How  I  Know 
God  Answers  Pray* 


Goforth 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  LIBRARY  AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


How  I  Know 
God  Answers  Prayer 


The  Personal  Testimony 
of  One  Life-Time 


By 

Rosalind  Goforth 

(Mrs.  Jonathan  Goforth) 


Missionary  in  China  since  188S 


“  They  shall  abundantly  utter  the  memory  of  thy 
great  goodness.” — Psalm  1 45  :  7. 

"  Go  . . .  and  tell  them  how  great  things  the  Lord 
hath  done  for  thee.” — Mark  5:19. 


Philadelphia 

The  Sunday  School  Times  Company 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
The  Sunday  School  Times  Company 


Printed  in  the  United  States  oe  Ame&ica 


L 

i ' 


FOREWORD 

IT  SEEMS  fitting  that  this  little  book  of 
personal  testimonies  to  answered  prayer 
should  have  a  brief  introductory  word  as  to 
how  they  came  to  be  written.  The  question 
has  been  asked  by  some  who  read  many  of 
these  testimonies  as  they  appeared  in  the 
pages  of  The  Sunday  School  Times :  “How 
could  you  write  such  personal  and  sacred 
incidents  in  your  life?”  I  could  not  have 
written  them  but  for  a  very  clear,  God-given 
leading. 

The  story  is  as  follows :  When  in  Canada 
on  our  first  furloughs  I  was  frequently 
amazed  at  the  incredulity  expressed  when 
definite  testimony  was  given  to  an  answer  to 
prayer.  Sometimes  this  was  shown  by  an 
expressive  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  sometimes 
by  a  sudden  silence  or  turning  of  the  topic  of 
conversation,  and  sometimes  more  openly  by 
the  query :  “How  do  you  know  that  it  might 
not  have  happened  so,  anyway  ?” 

Gradually  the  impression  deepened:  “If 
they  will  not  believe  one,  two,  or  a  dozen  tes¬ 
timonies,  will  they  believe  the  combined  tes¬ 
timonies  of  one  whole  life?” 

The  more  I  thought  of  what  it  would  mean 

••• 

in 


IV 


Foreword 


to  record  the  sacred  incidents  connected  with 
answers  to  prayer  the  more  I  shrank  from 
the  publicity,  and  from  undertaking  the  task. 
There  were  dozens  of  answers  far  too  sacred 
for  the  public  eye,  which  were  known  only  to 
a  few,  others  known  only  to  God.  But  if  the 
record  were  to  carry  weight  with  those  who 
did  not  believe  in  the  supernatural  element  in 
prayer,  many  personal  and  scarcely  less  sa¬ 
cred  incidents  must  of  necessity  be  made 
public. 

Again  and  again  I  laid  the  matter  aside  as 
impossible.  But  I  know  now  that  the  thing 
was  of  God.  As  months,  even  years,  passed, 
the  impelling  sense  that  the  record  of  answers 
to  prayer  must  be  written  gave  me  no  rest. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  the  1908-10  furlough 
—  during  which,  as  a  family,  we  had  been 
blessed  with  many  and,  to  our  weak  faith, 
wonderful  answers  to  prayer  —  that  my  old¬ 
est  son  urged  me  to  put  down  in  some  definite 
form  the  answers  to  prayer  of  my  life,  and 
extracted  from  me  a  solemn  promise  that  I 
would  do  so. 

But  months  passed  after  returning  to 
China,  and  the  record  had  not  been  touched. 
Then  came  a  sudden  and  serious  illness  which 
threatened  my  life,  when  the  doctor  told  me 
I  must  not  delay  in  getting  my  affairs  in 
order.. 


Foreword 


v 


It  was  then  that  an  overwhelming  sense  of 
regret  took  possession  of  me  that  I  had  not 
set  down  the  prayer  testimonies,  and  sol¬ 
emnly  I  covenanted  with  the  Lord  that  if  he 
would  raise  me  up  they  should  be  written. 

There  was  no  more  question  of  what 
others  might  think;  the  one  thought  was  to 
obey.  The  Lord  raised  me  up ;  and  although 
he  had  to  deal  with  me  very  sternly  once 
more  before  I  really  set  myself  to  the  task, 
the  testimonies  that  are  given  here  were 
written  at  last  —  most  of  them  in  odd  mo¬ 
ments  of  time  during  strenuous  missionary 
journeys  among  the  heathen. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  these  incidents  of 
answered  prayer  are  not  given  as  being  more 
wonderful,  or  more  worthy  of  record,  than 
multitudes  the  world  over  could  testify  to; 
but  they  are  written  and  sent  out  simply 
and  only  because  I  had  to  write  them  or  dis¬ 
obey  God . 


Rosalind  Goforth. 


CONTENTS 


Foreword 

How  these  testimonies  came  to  be  written .  iii 

I 

“Getting  Things  from  God” 

The  simplicity  of  petition  .  I 

II 

Early  Lessons  in  the  Life  of  Faith 

Led  by  a  bird.  Toothache  taken  away.  Reward 
of  seeking  first  the  Kingdom.  Financial  aid. 
Sunday-school  scholars  given.  Guidance  in 
time  of  crisis.  A  prayer  preparation  for 
China.  A  beautiful  seal  on  the  new  life  ....  6 

III 

“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees” 
(1887-1894) 

The  key-note  of  pioneer  years.  Help  in  the  lan¬ 
guage  from  the  Home  Base.  Prayer-opened 
doors.  Deliverance  in  time  of  peril.  “Kept 
by  the  power  of  God.”  Prayer  and  medical 
work.  Converts  from  the  first.  Wang 
Feng-ao,  the  proud  Confucian  scholar.  Wang 
Fu-Lin,  the  opium  fiend.  Dr.  Hunter  Cor¬ 
bett’s  testimony.  The  result  of  obedience. 
From  the  gates  of  death.  Lord  Sandwich’s 
testimony  . .  15 


IV 

A  God-Given  Field  (1894-1900) 

A  promise  given.  The  promise  fulfilled.  Our 
great  need.  One  need  .supplied  —  an  evan¬ 
gelist  A  second  need  supplied  —  a  Bible- 

woman.  Paying  the  price  of  petition.  A 

•• 

VU 


V1U 


Contents 


touch  of  healing.  A  Chinaman’s  faith,  —  the 
locust  story !  A  Christian  woman’s  faith  for 
her  child.  Our  child  died  —  a  case  of  un¬ 
answered  prayer.  A  God  of  deliverances  ...  28 

V 

Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers 

(1900) 

A  clear  answer  to  prayers  in  the  home  church. 

Led  on  through  dangers  and  trials.  Safely 
brought  through .  43 


VI 

Proving  God's  Faithfulness  ( 1902-1908) 

God  must  come  first.  A  hard  proposition.  In 
the  furnace.  Made  willing  in  the  day  of 
God’s  power.  Testimony  to  God’s  abundant 
faithfulness.  A  Bible-woman  of  exceptional 
power  given.  God  meeting  the  Home  mes¬ 
sage —  “Retrench.”  Abundant  funds  pro¬ 
vided.  A  beautiful  instance  of  “God’s  wire¬ 
less.”  A  case  of  “While  they  are  yet  speak¬ 
ing  I  will  hear.”  The  life  made  easier.  A 
child’s  fever  restrained.  Blessing  in  the  work, 
converts  given.  A  God-suggested  remedy. 
Chinese  prevailing  prayer  for  Mr.  Goforth. 
Women  sent  to  us.  Doors  for  preaching 
opened.  Workers  supplied  abundantly.  Kept 
from  smallpox.  We  may  trust  Him  wholly  .  69 

VII 

The  Story  of  One  Furlough 
(1908-1910) 

Meeting  a  condition  of  petition  —  obedience. 

Six  difficult  doors  opened.  Trusting  for 
everything.  Apples  sent  in  abundance.  Fruit, 
the  best,  in  abundance.  A  telephone  supplied. 

A  fur  coat.  God’s  wonderful  keeping  power, 
a  blessed  experience.  Help  for  the  children’s 
sewing.  Another  case  of  “God’s  wireless.” 

A  timely  offer.  A  daughter’s  guardian  pro- 


Contents 


ix 


vided.  A  case  of  the  Lord’s  lovingkindness  — 
a  red  cloth  ulster !  Too  many  to  record  ...  89 

VIII 

Our  God  of  the  Impossible 

A  blessed  incident  from  Keswick.  A  verse  of  a 
hymn  given.  A  governess  provided.  Rain 
withheld  in  answer  to  prayer.  Five  pounds 
sent.  Sewing  and  prayer.  A  gracious  lead¬ 
ing,  and  a  great  need  supplied.  An  incident 
in  Tientsin.  More  help  with  the  sewing.  A 
sewing  machine  supplied.  A  case  of  tuber¬ 
culosis  healed.  Two  incidents  of  prayer  and 
revival.  Fifty  dollars  sent  for  friends  in 
need.  Another  case  of  spiritual  “wireless.’' 

Led  to  a  lost  key .  105 


IX 

To  His  Praise! 

Trusting  God  to  supply  needs.  His  faithfulness. 
Prayer  and  dress.  The  restraining  power  of 
prayer  —  my  son  in  the  Great  War.  A  prayer 
answered  abundantly  for  one  at  home.  Our 
God-given  site.  Closing  words.  All  in 
“abide.”  Bible  study  on  prayer .  124 

X 

Victory  Found 

Childhood  yearnings  for  the  presence  of  Christ. 
Half-hearted  conflict  with  sin  in  early  years 
in  China.  Pride  and  bad  temper.  Secretly 
criticized  by  Chinese  women.  How  to  live 
Christ  as  well  as  preach  him.  Heights  and 
depths  of  spiritual  experience.  Lifelong 
prayer  for  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit.  The 
conference  at  Niagara-on-the-Lake,  June, 
1916.  A  speaker’s  message  and  leaflet  on 
“The  Victorious  Life.”  Christ  accepted  as 
Saviour  from  the  power  of  sin  as  well  as  from 
its  penalty.  The  j  oy  of  realizing  his  Indwelling 
Presence.  All  summed  up  in  one  word,  “Rest¬ 
ing.”  Bible-study  on  “The  Life  of  Victory  in 
Christ”  .  131 


I 

“GETTING  THINGS  FROM  GOD” 


“Are  not  five  sparrows  sold  for  two  farth¬ 
ings,  and  not  one  of  them  is  forgotten  before 
God?  .  .  .  Fear  not  therefore:  ye  are  of  more 
value  than  many  sparrows.” — The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

THE  pages  of  this  little  book  deal  almost 
wholly  with  just  one  phase  of  prayer  — 
petition.  The  record  is  almost  entirely  a 
personal  testimony  of  what  petition  to  my 
Heavenly  Father  has  meant  in  meeting  the 
everyday  crises  of  my  life. 

A  prominent  Christian  worker,  who  read 
some  of  these  testimonies  in  The  Sunday 
School  Times,  said  to  the  writer:  “To  em¬ 
phasize  getting  things  from  God,  as  you  do, 
is  to  make  prayer  too  material.” 

To  me  this  seems  far  from  true.  God  is 
my  Father,  I  am  his  child.  As  truly  as  I  de¬ 
light  to  be  sought  for  by  my  child  when  he  is 
cold  or  hungry,  ill,  or  in  need  of  protection, 
so  is  it  with  my  Heavenly  Father. 

Prayer  has  been  hedged  about  with  too 
many  man-made  rules.  I  am  convinced  that 
God  has  intended  prayer  to  be  as  simple  and 
natural,  and  as  constant  a  part  of  our  spirit- 


i 


2  God  Answers  Prayer 

ual  life,  as  the  intercourse  between  a  child 
and  his  parent  in  the  home.  And  as  a  large 
part  of  that  intercourse  between  child  and 
parent  is  simply  asking  and  receiving,  just  so 
is  it  with  us  and  our  Heavenly  Parent. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  most  blessed  ele¬ 
ment  in  this  asking  and  getting  from  God  lies 
in  the  strengthening  of  faith  which  comes 
when  a  definite  request  has  been  granted. 
What  more  helpful  and  inspiring  than  a  ring¬ 
ing  testimony  of  what  God  has  done? 

As  I  have  recalled  the  past  in  writing  these 
incidents,  one  of  the  most  precious  memories 
is  that  of  an  evening  when  a  number  of 
friends  had  gathered  in  our  home.  The  con¬ 
versation  turned  on  answered  prayer.  For 
more  than  two  hours  we  vied  with  one  an¬ 
other  in  recounting  personal  incidents  of 
God’s  wonderful  work ;  and  the  inspiration  of 
that  evening  still  abides. 

A  Christian  minister  once  said  to  me :  “Is 
it  possible  that  the  great  God  of  the  universe, 
the  Maker  and  Ruler  of  mankind,  could  or 
would,  as  you  would  make  out,  take  interest 
in  such  a  trifle  as  the  trimming  of  a  hat !  To 
me  it  is  preposterous !” 

Yet  did  not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  say: 
“The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  num¬ 
bered”;  and  “not  one  sparrow  is  forgotten 
before  God”;  and  again,  “Your  heavenly 


“Getting  Things  from  God” 


3 


Father  knoweth  what  ye  have  need  of  before 
ye  ask  him”  ? 

It  is  true  that  “There  is  nothing  too  great 
for  God’s  power” ;  and  it  is  just  as  true  that 
“There  is  nothing  too  small  for  his  love !” 

If  we  believe  God’s  Word  we  must  believe, 
as  Dan  Crawford  has  tersely  and  beautifully 
expressed  it,  that  “The  God  of  the  infinite  is 
the  God  of  the  infinitesimal.”  Yes,  he 

“Who  clears  the  grounding  berg 
And  guides  the  grinding  floe, 

He  hears  the  cry  of  the  little  kit  fox 
And  the  lemming  of  the  snow!” 

No  more  wonderful  testimony,  perhaps, 
has  ever  been  given  of  God’s  willingness  to 
help  in  every  emergency  of  life,  than  that 
which  Mary  Slessor  gave,  when  asked  to  tell 
what  prayer  had  meant  to  her.  “My  life,” 
she  wrote,  “is  one  long  daily,  hourly  record 
of  answered  prayer.  For  physical  health, 
for  mental  overstrain,  for  guidance  given 
marvelously,  for  errors  and  dangers  everted, 
for  enmity  to  the  Gospel  subdued,  for  food 
provided  at  the  exact  hour  needed,  for  every¬ 
thing  that  goes  to  make  up  life  and  my  poor 
service.  I  can  testify,  with  a  full  and 
often  wonder-stricken  awe,  that  I  believe 
God  answers  prayer.  I  know  God  an¬ 
swers  prayer !” 

I  have  been  asked  the  question :  “Has  God 


4  God  Answers  Prayer 

always  given  you  just  what  you  have  asked 
for  ?” 

Oh,  no!  For  him  to  have  done  so  would 
have  been  great  unkindness.  For  instance : 
when  I  was  a  young  woman  I  prayed  for 
three  years  that  God  would  grant  me  a  certain 
petition.  Sometimes  I  pleaded  for  this  as  for 
life  itself,  so  intensely  did  I  want  it.  Then 
God  showed  me  very  clearly  that  I  was  pray¬ 
ing  against  his  will.  I  resigned  my  will  to 
his  in  the  matter,  and  a  few  months  later  God 
gave  what  was  infinitely  better.  I  have 
often  praised  him  for  denying  my  prayer; 
for  had  he  granted  it  I  could  never  have  come 
to  China. 

Then,  too,  we  must  remember  that  many 
of  our  prayers,  though  always  heard,  are  not 
granted  because  of  some  sin  harbored  in  the 
life,  or  because  of  unbelief,  or  of  failure  to 
meet  some  other  Bible-recorded  condition 
governing  prevailing  prayer.  (See  Bible 
Study  on  pages  129,  130.) 

The  following  incidents  of  answered 
prayer  are  by  no  means  a  complete  record. 
How  could  they  be,  when  no  record  of  prayer 
has  been  kept  all  these  fifty  years?  Had 
there  been,  I  doubt  not  that  volumes  could 
have  been  written  to  the  glory  of  God’s  grace 
and  power  in  answering  prayer.  But  even 
from  what  is  recorded  here  I,  too,  can  say 


“Getting  Things  from  God"  5 

from  a  full  heart,  1  know  God  answers 
prayer.. 

“He  answered  prayer:  so  sweetly  that  I  stand 
Amid  the  blessing  of  his  wondrous  hand 
And  marvel  at  the  miracle  I  see, 

The  favours  that  his  love  hath  wrought  for  me. 
Pray  on  for  the  impossible,  and  dare 
Upon  thy  banner  this  brave  motto  bear, 

‘My  Father  answers  prayer.’  ” 


II 


EARLY  LESSONS  IN  THE 
LIFE  OF  FAITH 

“I  love  the  Lord,  because  he  hath  heard 
my  voice  and  my  supplications.” — Psalm 
ji6:i . 

WHEN  a  very  little  child,  so  young  I  can 
remember  nothing  earlier,  a  severe 
thunderstorm  passed  over  our  home.  Terri¬ 
fied,  I  ran  to  my  mother,  who  placed  my 
hands  together,  and  pointing  upward  re¬ 
peated  over  and  over  again  the  one  word 

“Jesus.” 

More  than  fifty  years  have  passed  since 
that  day,  but  the  impression  left  upon  my 
child-mind,  of  a  Being  invisible  but  able  to 
hear  and  help,  has  never  been  effaced. 

The  most  precious  recollections  of  early 
childhood  are  associated  with  stories  told  us 
by  our  mother,  many  of  which  illustrated  the 
power  of  prayer. 

One  that  made  a  specially  deep  impression 
upon  me  was  about  our  grandfather,  who  as 
a  little  boy  went  to  visit  cousins  in  the  south 
of  England,  their  home  being  situated  close 

6 


Early  Lessons  in  the  Life  of  Faith  7 


to  a  dense  forest.  One  day  the  children, 
lured  by  the  beautiful  wild  flowers,  became 
hopelessly  lost  in  the  woods.  After  trying  in 
vain  to  find  a  way  out,  the  eldest,  a  young 
girl,  called  the  frightened,  crying  little  ones 
around  her  and  said :  “When  mother  died  she 
told  us  to  always  tell  Jesus  if  we  were  in  any 
trouble.  Let  us  kneel  down,  and  ask  him  to 
take  us  home.” 

They  knelt,  and  as  she  prayed  one  of  the 
little  ones  opened  his  eyes,  to  find  a  bird  so 
close  to  his  hand  that  he  reached  out  for  it. 
The  bird  hopped  away,  but  kept  so  close  to 
the  child  as  to  lead  him  on.  Soon  all  were 
joining  in  the  chase  after  the  bird,  which 
flew  or  hopped  in  front  or  just  above,  and 
sometimes  on  the  ground  almost  within 
reach.  Then  suddenly  it  flew  into  the  air 
and  away.  The  children  looked  up  to  find 
themselves  on  the  edge  of  the  woods  and  in 
sight  of  home. 

With  such  influences  bearing  upon  one  at 
an  impressionable  age,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  I  came  even  as  a  very  little  child  to  just 
“tell  Jesus”  when  in  trouble. 

Through  the  mists  of  memory  one  incident 
comes  out  clearly,  which  occurred  when  I 
was  six  or  seven  years  of  age.  While  play¬ 
ing  one  day  in  the  garden,  I  was  seized  with 


8 


God  Answers  Prayer 

what  we  then  called  “jumping”  toothache.  I 
ran  to  my  mother  for  comfort,  but  nothing 
she  could  do  seemed  to  ease  the  pain. 

The  nerve  must  have  become  exposed,  for 
the  pain  was  acute.  Suddenly  I  thought, 
“Jesus  can  help  me,”  and  just  as  I  was,  with 
my  face  pressed  against  my  mother’s  breast, 
I  said  in  my  heart : 

“Lord  Jesus,  if  you  will  take  away  this 
toothache  right  now,  now ,  I  will  be  your  little 
girl  for  three  years.” 

Before  the  prayer  was  well  uttered  the  pain 
was  entirely  gone.  I  believed  that  Jesus  had 
taken  it  away;  and  the  result  was  that  for 
years,  when  tempted  to  be  naughty,  I  was 
afraid  to  do  what  I  knew  was  wrong  lest,  if 
I  broke  my  side  of  what  I  felt  to  be  a  com¬ 
pact,  the  toothache  would  return.  This  little 
incident  had  a  real  influence  over  my  early 
life,  gave  me  a  constant  sense  of  the  reality 
of  a  divine  presence,  and  so  helped  to  prepare 
me  for  the  public  confession  of  Christ  as  my 
Saviour  a  few  years  later,  at  the  age  of 
eleven. 

About  a  year  after  my  confession  of  Christ 
an  incident  occurred  which  greatly  strength¬ 
ened  my  faith,  and  led  me  to  look  to  God  as  a 
Father  in  a  new  way. 

When  Easter  Sunday  morning  came  it  was 


Early  Lessons  in  the  Life  of  Faith  9 


so  warm  only  spring  clothes  could  be  worn. 
My  sister  and  I  decided  at  breakfast  that  we 
would  not  go  to  church,  as  we  had  only 
our  old  winter  dresses.  Going  to  my  room, 
I  turned  to  my  Bible  to  study  it,  when  it 
opened  at  the  sixth  chapter  of  Matthew,  and 
my  eye  rested  on  these  words :  “Why  take  ye 
thought  for  raiment . . .  seek  ye  first  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God,  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you.” 

It  was  as  if  God  spoke  the  words  directly 
to  me.  I  determined  to  go  to  church,  even  if 
I  had  to  humiliate  myself  by  going  in  my  old 
winter  dress.  The  Lord  was  true  to  his 
promise ;  I  can  still  feel  the  power  the  resur¬ 
rection  messages  had  upon  my  heart  that  day 
so  long  ago.  And  further,  on  the  following 
day  a  box  came  from  a  distant  aunt,  contain¬ 
ing  not  only  new  dresses  but  much  else  that 
might  well  be  included  in  the  “all  these 
things,” 

An  unforgetable  proof  of  God’s  loving 
care  came  to  us  as  a  family  about  this  time, 
when  my  parents  were  face  to  face  with  a 
serious  financial  crisis.  Isaiah  65  :  24  was 
literally  fulfilled:  “Before  they  call,  I  will 
answer;  and  while  they  are  yet  speaking,  I 
will  hear.” 

At  that  time,  it  is  necessary  to  state,  we 


10  God  Answers  Prayer 

depended  on  a  quarterly  income,  which  came 
through  my  mother's  lawyer  in  England. 
Unusual  circumstances  had  so  drained  our 
resources  that  we  found  ourselves,  in  the 
middle  of  the  quarter,  with  barely  sufficient 
to  meet  a  week's  needs.  My  dear  mother 
assured  us  that  the  Lord  would  provide ;  that 
he  would  not  forsake  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  him.  That  very  day  a  letter  came 
from  the  lawyer  in  England,  enclosing  a 
draft  for  a  sum  ample  to  meet  our  needs  till 
the  regular  remittance  should  arrive.  This 
unexpected  and  timely  draft  proved  to  be  a 
bonus,  which  did  not  occur  again. 

Some  years  later,  having  moved  to  a 
strange  city,  a  great  longing  came  to  do  some 
definite  service  for  my  Master.  One  day 
there  came  to  the  Bible  class  I  attended  a  call 
for  teachers,  to  aid  in  a  Sunday-school  near 
by.  When  I  presented  myself  before  the 
superintendent  of  this  Sunday-school  the  fol¬ 
lowing  Sunday,  and  offered  my  services,  it 
is  not  much  wonder  I  received  a  rebuff,  for  I 
was  young  and  quite  unknown.  I  was  told 
that  if  I  wished  a  class,  it  would  be  well  for 
me  to  find  my  own  scholars.  I  can  remem¬ 
ber  how  a  lump  seemed  choking  me  all  the 
way  home  that  day., 

At  last,  determining  not  to  be  baffled,  I 


Early  Lessons  in  the  Life  of  Faith  1 1 

prayed  the  Lord  to  help  me  get  some  scholars. 
I  went  forth  praying  every  step  of  the  way, 
the  following  Saturday  afternoon;  and  can¬ 
vassing  just  one  short  street  near  our  home, 
I  received  the  promise  of  nineteen  children 
for  Sunday-school.  The  next  day  a  rather 
victorious  young  woman  walked  up  to  the 
Sunday-school  superintendent  with  seventeen 
children  following.  Needless  to  say  I  was 
given  a  class. 

In  the  autumn  of  1885  the  Toronto  Mis¬ 
sion  Union,  a  faith  mission,  decided  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  branch  mission  in  the  East  End  slums 
of  that  city..  Three  others  with  myself  were 
deputed  to  open  this  work.  Everything  con¬ 
nected  with  it  was  entirely  new  to  me;  but 
most  helpful  and  inspiring  I  found  it.  For 
in  face  of  tremendous  difficulties,  that  seemed 
to  my  inexperienced  eyes  insurmountable,  I 
learned  that  prayer  was  the  secret  which 
overcame  every  obstacle,  the  key  that  un¬ 
locked  every  closed  door. 

I  felt  like  a  child  learning  a  new  and  won¬ 
derful  lesson  —  as  I  saw  benches,  tables, 
chairs,  stove,  fuel,  lamps,  oil,  even  an  organ, 
coming  in  answer  to  definite  prayer  for  these 
things.  But  best  sight  of  all  was  when  men 
and  women,  deep  in  sin,  were  converted  and 
changed  into  workers  for  God,  in  answer  to 
prayer.  Praise  God  for  the  lessons  then 


12 


God  Answers  Prayer 


learned,  which  were  invaluable  later  when 
facing  the  heathen. 

The  time  came  when  two  diverse  paths  lay 
before  me  —  one  to  England,  as  an  artist ; 
one  to  China,  as  a  missionary.  Circum¬ 
stances  made  a  definite  decision  most  difficult. 
I  thought  I  had  tried  every  means  to  find  out 
God’s  will  for  me,  and  no  light  had  come. 

But  in  a  day  of  great  trouble,  when  my 
precious  mother’s  very  life  seemed  to  hang 
in  the  balance,  I  shut  myself  up  with  God’s 
Word,  praying  definitely  for  him  to  guide  me 
to  some  passage  by  which  I  might  know  his 
will  for  my  life.  My  Bible  opening  at  the  fif¬ 
teenth  chapter  of  John’s  Gospel,  the  sixteenth 
verse  seemed  to  come  as  a  message  to  me: 
“Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you,  and  ordained  you,  that  ye  should  go  and 
bring  forth  fruit.”  Going  to  my  dear  mother 
and  telling  her  of  the  message  God  had  given 
me,  she  said:  “I  dare  not  fight  against  God.” 

From  that  time  the  last  hindrance  from 
going  to  China  was  removed.  Surely  the 
wonderful  way  God  has  kept  his  child  for 
more  than  thirty  years  in  China  is  proof 
that  this  “call”  was  not  a  mistaken  one. 
“In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  him,  and 
he  will  make  plain  thy  paths”  (Prov.  3: 
6,  marg.). 


Early  Lessons  in  the  Life  of  Faith  1 3 

During  the  summer  of  1887  a  book  written 
by  Dr.  Hudson  Taylor  came  into  my  hands. 
In  “China’s  Spiritual  Needs  and  Claims”  the 
writer  told  many  instances  of  God’s  gracious 
provision  in  answer  to  prayer.  The  inci¬ 
dents  related  impressed  me  deeply.  A  little 
later,  a  few  weeks  before  my  marriage,  when 
I  found  I  was  short  fifty  dollars  of  what  I 
would  need  to  be  married  free  of  debt,  I  re¬ 
solved  not  to  let  others  know  of  my  need,  but 
to  just  trust  God  to  send  it  to  me.  The 
thought  came  —  if  you  cannot  trust  God  for 
this,  when  Hudson  Taylor  could  trust  for  so 
much  more,  are  you  worthy  to  be  a  mis¬ 
sionary  ? 

It  was  my  first  experience  of  trusting  quite 
alone  for  money.  I  was  sorely  tempted  to 
give  others  just  a  hint  of  my  need.  But  I 
was  kept  back  from  doing  so;  and  though  I 
had  a  week  or  more  of  severe  testing,  peace 
of  mind  and  the  assurance  that  God  would 
supply  my  need,  came  at  length.  The  an¬ 
swer,  however,  did  not  come  till  the  very  last 
night  before  the  wedding. 

That  evening  a  number  of  my  fellow-work- 
ers  from  the  East  End  Mission  called,  and 
presented  me  with  a  beautifully  illuminated 
address  and  a  purse.  After  these  friends  had 
left  I  returned  to  my  home  circle  assembled 
in  the  back  parlor,  and  showed  them  the  ad- 


14  God  Answers  Prayer 

dress  and  the  purse  unopened!  Not  for  a 
moment  did  I  think  there  was  anything  in  the 
purse  till  my  brother  said:  “You  foolish  girl, 
why  don’t  you  open  it  ?”  I  opened  the  purse, 
and  found  it  contained  a  check  for  fifty 
dollars ! 

This  incident  has  ever  remained  peculiarly 
precious;  for  it  seemed  to  us  a  seal  of  God 
upon  the  new  life  opening  before  us. 


Ill 


“GO  FORWARD  ON  YOUR  KNEES” 

1887-1894 

“I  will  go  before  thee,  and  make  the 
crooked  places  straight :  I  will  break  in  pieces 
the  gates  of  brass,  and  cut  in  sunder  the 
bars  of  iron”  (Isa.  45:2). 

IN  ATTEMPTING  to  record  what  prayer 
meant  in  our  early  pioneer  days,  other  than 
purely  personal  testimonies  must  be  given; 
for  we  were,  as  a  little  band  of  missionaries, 
bound  together  in  our  common  needs  and 
dangers  by  a  very  close  bond. 

In  October,  1887,  my  husband  was  ap¬ 
pointed  by  the  Canadian  Presbyterian 
Church  to  open  a  new  field,  in  the  northern 
section  of  the  Province  of  Honan,  China. 
We  left  Canada  the  following  January, 
reaching  China  in  March,  1888.  Not  till 
then  did  we  realize  the  tremendous  difficul¬ 
ties  of  the  task  before  us. 

Dr.  Hudson  Taylor,  of  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  writing  to  us  at  this  time,  said: 
“We  understand  North  Honan  is  to  be  your 
field;  we,  as  a  mission,  have  tried  for  ten 


15 


16 


God  Answers  Prayer 

years  to  enter  that  province  from  the  south, 
and  have  only  just  succeeded.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  anti-foreign  provinces  in  China. . . . 
Brother,  if  you  would  enter  that  province, 
you  must  go  forward  on  your  knees" 

These  words  gave  the  key-note  to  our  early 
pioneer  years.  Would  that  a  faithful  record 
had  been  kept  of  God’s  faithfulness  in  an¬ 
swering  prayer !  Our  strength  as  a  mission 
and  as  individuals,  during  those  years  so 
fraught  with  dangers  and  difficulties,  lay  in 
the  fact  that  we  did  realize  the  hopelessness 
of  our  task  apart  from  divine  aid. 

The  following  incident  occurred  while  we 
were  still  outside  Honan,  studying  the  lan¬ 
guage  at  a  sister  mission.  It  illustrates  the 
importance  of  prayer  from  the  home  base  for 
those  on  the  field. 

My  husband  was  finding  great  difficulty  in 
acquiring  the  language ;  he  studied  faithfully 
many  hours  daily,  but  made  painfully  slow 
progress.  He  and  his  colleague  went  regu¬ 
larly  together  to  the  street  chapel,  to  practise 
preaching  in  Chinese  to  the  people;  but, 
though  Mr.  Goforth  had  come  to  China 
almost  a  year  before  the  other  missionary, 
the  people  would  ask  the  latter  to  speak  in¬ 
stead  of  Mr.  Goforth,  saying  they  understood 
him  better. 


“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees*’  17 

One  day,  just  before  starting  as  usual  for 
the  chapel,  my  husband  said:  “If  the  Lord 
does  not  give  me  very  special  help  in  this 
language  I  fear  I  shall  be  a  failure  as  a 
missionary.” 

Some  hours  later  he  returned,  his  face 
beaming  with  joy.  He  told  me  that  he  real¬ 
ized  most  unusual  help  when  his  turn  came  to 
speak;  sentences  came  to  his  mind  as  never 
before;  and  not  only  had  he  made  himself 
understood,  but  some  had  appeared  much 
moved,  coming  up  afterward  to  have  further 
conversation  with  him.  So  delighted  and  en¬ 
couraged  was  he  with  this  experience  that 
he  made  a  careful  note  of  it  in  his  diary. 

Some  two  months  and  a  half  later  a  letter 
came  from  a  student  in  Knox  College,  saying 
that  on  a  certain  evening  a  number  of  stu¬ 
dents  had  met  specially  to  pray  for  Mr.  Go¬ 
forth.  The  power  of  prayer  was  such,  and 
the  presence  of  God  so  manifestly  felt,  that 
they  decided  to  write  and  ask  Mr.  Goforth  if 
any  special  help  had  come  to  him  at  that  time. 
Looking  in  his  diary,  he  found  that  the  time 
of  their  meeting  corresponded  with  that  time 
of  special  help  in  the  language. 

“I  cannot  tell  why  there  should  come  to  me 

A  thought  of  some  one  miles  and  years  away, 

In  swift  insistence  on  the  memory, 

Unless  there  is  a  need  that  I  should  pray. 


18 


God  Answers  Prayer 


We  are  too  busy  to  spare  thought 

For  days  together  of  some  friends  away; 

Perhaps  God  does  it  for  us  —  and  we  ought 
To  read  his  signal  as  a  sign  to  pray. 

Perhaps  just  then  my  friend  has  fiercer  fight, 

A  more  appalling  weakness,  a  decay 

Of  courage,  darkness,  some  lost  sense  of  right; 
And  so,  in  case  he  needs  my  prayers  —  I  pray.” 

At  last  the  joyful  news  reached  us  women, 
waiting  outside  of  Honan,  that  our  brethren 
had  secured  property  in  two  centers.  It 
would  be  difficult  for  those  in  the  homeland 
to  understand  what  the  years  of  waiting  had 
meant  to  some  of  us.  The  danger  to  those 
dear  to  us,  touring  in  Honan,  was  very  great. 
For  years  they  never  left  us  to  go  on  a  tour 
without  our  being  filled  with  dread  lest  they 
should  never  return;  yet  the  Lord,  in  his 
mercy,  heard  our  prayers  for  them;  and 
though  often  in  grave  danger,  none  received 
serious  injury.  This  is  not  a  history  of  the 
mission,  but  I  cannot  forbear  giving  here  one 
incident  illustrating  how  they  were  kept  dur¬ 
ing  those  early  days. 

Two  of  our  brethren,  after  renting  prop¬ 
erty  at  a  town  just  within  the  boundary  of 
Honan,  and  near  the  Wei  River,  moved  in, 
intending  to  spend  the  winter  there;  but  a 
sudden  and  bitter  persecution  arose,  just  as 
they  had  become  settled.  The  mission  prem- 


“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees”  19 


ises  were  attacked  by  a  mob,  and  everything 
was  looted.  The  two  men  were  roughly 
handled,  one  being  dragged  about  the  court¬ 
yard.  They  found  themselves  at  last  left 
alone,  their  lives  spared,  but  everything  gone. 

Their  position  was  serious  in  the  extreme 
—  several  days’  journey  away  from  friends, 
with  no  money,  no  bedding,  and  no  clothes 
but  those  upon  them,  and  the  cold  winter 
begun. 

In  their  extremity,  they  knelt  down  and 
committed  themselves  to  the  Lord.  And 
according  to  his  promise  he  delivered  them 
out  of  their  distresses;  for  even  while  they 
prayed  a  brother  missionary  from  a  distant 
station  was  at  hand.  He  arrived  unexpect¬ 
edly,  without  knowing  what  had  occurred,  a 
few  hours  after  the  looting  had  taken  place. 
His  coming  at  such  an  opportune  moment 
filled  the  hearts  of  their  heathen  enemies  with 
fear.  Money  and  goods  were  returned,  and 
from  that  time  the  violent  opposition  of  the 
people  ceased. 

A  few  months  after  the  above  incident 
several  families  moved  into  Honan,  and  a 
permanent  occupation  was  effected;  but  the 
hearts  of  the  people  seemed  as  adamant 
against  us.  They  hated  and  distrusted  us 
as  if  we  were  their  worst  enemies.  The  dis- 


20 


God  Answers  Prayer 


trict  in  which  we  settled  was  known  for  its 
turbulent  and  anti-foreign  spirit,  and  as  a 
band  of  missionaries  we  were  frequently  in 
the  gravest  danger. 

Many  times  we  realized  that  we,  as  well  as 
our  fellow-workers  at  the  other  stations,  were 
kept  from  serious  harm  only  by  the  over-rul¬ 
ing,  protecting  power  of  God  in  answer  to 
the  many  prayers  which  were  going  up  for 
us  all  at  this  critical  juncture  in  the  history  of 
our  mission.  The  following  are  concrete  ex¬ 
amples  of  how  God  heard  our  prayers  at  this 
time. 

We  had  for  our  station  doctor  a  man  of 
splendid  gifts.  He  was  a  gold  medalist,  with 
years  of  special  training  and  hospital  experi¬ 
ence,  and  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  ris¬ 
ing  physicians  in  the  city  from  which  he 
came.  Imagine  his  disappointment,  there¬ 
fore,  when  month  after  month  passed  and 
scarcely  a  good  case  came  to  the  hospital. 
The  people  did  not  know  what  he  could  do, 
and  moreover  they  were  afraid  to  trust  them¬ 
selves  into  his  hands.  We,  as  a  little  band 
of  missionaries,  began  to  pray  definitely  that 
the  Lord  would  send  cases  to  the  hospital 
which  would  open  the  hearts  of  the  people 
toward  us  and  our  message. 

It  was  not  long  before  we  saw  this  prayer 
answered  beyond  all  expectation.  Several 


“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees**  21 


very  important  cases  came  almost  together, 
one  so  serious  that  the  doctor  hesitated  for 
days  before  operating.  When  at  last  the 
operation  did  take  place  the  doctor’s  hands 
were  strengthened  by  our  prayers,  the  patient 
came  through  safely,  and  a  few  days  later 
was  going  around  a  living  wonder  to  the 
people. 

Very  much  depended  upon  the  outcome  of 
this  and  other  serious  operations.  Had  the 
patients  died  under  the  doctor’s  hands,  it 
would  have  been  quite  sufficient  to  have 
caused  the  destruction  of  the  mission  prem¬ 
ises  and  the  life  of  every  missionary.  Three 
years  later  the  hospital  records  showed  that 
there  had  been  twenty-eight  thousand  treat¬ 
ments  in  one  year. 

Again,  we  kept  praying  that  the  Lord 
would  give  us  converts  from  the  very  begin¬ 
ning.  We  had  heard  of  missionaries  in  India, 
China,  and  elsewhere,  who  had  worked  for 
many  years  without  gaining  converts ;  but  we 
did  not  believe  that  this  was  God’s  will  for 
us.  We  believed  that  it  was  his  pleasure  and 
purpose  to  save  men  and  women  through  his 
human  channels,  and  why  not  from  the  be¬ 
ginning?  So  we  kept  praying  and  working 
and  expecting  converts,  and  God  gave  them 
to  us.  The  experience  of  thirty  years  has 
confirmed  this  belief. 


22 


God  Answers  Prayer 


Space  permits  the  mention  of  but  two  of 
these  earliest  converts. 

The  first  was  Wang  Feng-ao,  who  came 
with  us  into  Honan  as  Mr.  Goforth’s  per¬ 
sonal  teacher.  He  was  a  man  of  high  de¬ 
gree,  equal  to  the  Western  M.A.,  and  was 
one  of  the  proudest  and  most  overbearing  of 
Confucian  scholars.  He  despised  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  their  teaching,  and  so  great  was 
his  opposition  that  he  would  beat  his  wife 
every  time  she  came  to  see  us  or  listen  to  our 
message.  But  Mr.  Goforth  kept  praying  for 
this  man,  and  using  all  his  influence  to  win 
him  for  Christ. 

Before  many  months  passed  a  great  change 
had  come  over  Mr.  Wang;  his  proud,  over¬ 
bearing  manner  had  changed,  and  he  became 
a  humble,  devout  follower  of  the  lowly  Naza- 
rene.  God  used  a  dream  to  awaken  this  man’s 
conscience  —  as  is  not  uncommon  in  China. 
One  night  he  dreamed  he  was  struggling  in  a 
deep,  miry  pit ;  but  try  as  he  would  he  could 
find  no  way  of  escape.  When  about  to  give 
up  in  despair,  he  looked  up  and  saw  Mr.  Go¬ 
forth  and  another  missionary  on  the  bank 
above  him,  with  their  hands  stretched  out  to 
save  him.  Again  he  sought  for  some  other 
way  of  escape ;  but  finding  none,  he  allowed 
them  to  draw  him  up. 

This  man,  later  on,  became  Mr.,  Goforth’s 


“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees*’  23 


most  valued  evangelist.  For  many  years  his 
splendid  gifts  were  used  to  the  glory  of  his 
Master  in  the  work  among  the  scholar  class 
in  the  Changtefu  district.  He  has  long  since 
passed  to  his  reward,  dying  as  he  had  lived, 
trusting  only  in  the  merit  of  Jesus  Christ  for 
salvation. 

Another  of  the  bright  glints,  in  the  dark¬ 
ness  of  those  earliest  days  in  Honan,  was  the 
remarkable  conversion  of  Wang  Fu-Lin.  For 
many  years  his  business  had  been  that  of  a 
public  story-teller;  but  when  Mr.  Goforth 
came  across  him  he  was  reduced  to  an  utter 
wreck  through  opium  smoking.  He  accepted 
the  Gospel,  but  for  a  long  time  seemed  too 
weak  to  break  off  the  opium  habit.  Again 
and  again  he  tried  to  do  so,  but  failed  hope¬ 
lessly  each  time. 

The  poor  fellow  seemed  almost  past  hope, 
when  one  day  Mr.  Goforth  brought  him  to 
the  mission  in  his  cart.  The  ten  days  that 
followed  can  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
watched  Wang  Fu-Lin  struggle  for  physical 
and  spiritual  life.  I  verily  believe  nothing 
but  prayer  could  have  brought  him  through. 
At  the  end  of  the  ten  days  the  power  of 
opium  was  broken,  and  Wang  Fu-Lin  came 
out  of  the  struggle  a  new  man  in  Christ 
Jesus. 


24  God  Answers  Prayer 

I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  this  man 
again. 

In  all  the  cases  of  divine  healing  cited  in 
this  record  it  will  be  noted  that  God  healed  in 
answer  to  prayer  either  when  the  doctors  had 
done  all  in  their  power  and  hope  had  been 
abandoned,  or  when  we  were  out  of  reach  of 
medical  aid. 

Soon  after  coming  to  China  the  Rev.  Hun¬ 
ter  Corbett,  one  of  the  most  devoted  and 
saintly  of  God’s  missionaries,  gave  a  testi¬ 
mony  which  later  was  used  of  God  to  save  the 
writer  from  giving  up  service  in  China  and 
returning  home  to  Canada. 

Dr.  Corbett  said  that  for  fifteen  years  he 
had  been  laid  aside  every  year  with  that  terri¬ 
ble  scourge  of  the  East  —  dysentery  ^  and  the 
doctors  at  last  gave  a  definite  decision  that  he 
must  return  at  once  to  the  homeland  and  for¬ 
sake  China.  But,  said  the  grand  old  man: 
“ I  knew  God  had  called  me  to  China,  and  I 
also  knew  that  God  did  not  change.  So  what 
could  I  do  ?  I  dared  not  go  back  on  my  call ; 
so  I  determined  that  if  I  could  not  live  in 
China  I  could  die  there;  and  from  that  time 
the  disease  lost  its  hold  on  me.” 

This  testimony  was  given  over  twenty-five 
years  ago,  when  he  had  been  almost  thirty 
years  in  China!  In  January,  1920,  when 


“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees”  25 


well-nigh  ninety  years  of  age,  this  beloved 
and  honored  saint  of  God  passed  to  higher 
service. 

For  several  years  I  had  been  affected  just 
as  Dr.  Corbett  had  been,  and  each  year  the 
terrible  disease  seemed  to  be  getting  a  firmer 
hold  upon  me.  At  last,  one  day  my  husband 
brought  me  the  decision  of  the  doctors,  that  I 
should  return  home.  And  as  I  lay  there  ill 
and  weak,  the  temptation  came  to  yield.  But, 
as  I  remembered  Dr.  Corbett’s  testimony,  and 
my  own  clear  call,  I  felt  that  to  go  back  would 
be  to  go  against  my  own  conscience.  I  there¬ 
fore  determined  to  do  as  Dr.  Corbett  had 
done  —  leave  myself  in  the  Lord’s  hands  — 
whether  for  life  or  for  death.  This  happened 
more  than  twenty  years  ago,  and  since  then  I 
have  had  very  little  trouble  from  that  dread 
disease. 

Yes,  the  deeper  the  need,  and  the  more 
bitter  the  extremity,  the  greater  the  opportu¬ 
nity  for  God  to  show  forth  his  mighty  power 
in  our  lives,  if  we  but  give  him  a  chance  by 
unswerving  obedience  at  any  cost.  “In  the 
day  when  I  cried  thou  answeredst  me,  and 
strengthenedst  me  with  strength  in  my  soul” 
(Psa.  138:3). 

During  our  fourth  year  in  China,  when  we 
were  spending  the  hot  season  at  the  coast,  our 


26  God  Answers  Prayer 

little  son,  eighteen  months  old,  was  taken 
very  ill  with  dysentery.  After  several  days’ 
fight  for  the  child’s  life  came  the  realization, 
one  evening,  that  the  angel  of  death  was  at 
hand. 

My  whole  soul  rebelled ;  I  actually  seemed 
to  hate  God ;  I  could  see  nothing  but  cruel  in¬ 
justice  in  it  all;  and  the  child  seemed  to  be 
fast  going.  My  husband  and  I  knelt  down 
beside  the  little  one’s  bedside,  and  he  pleaded 
earnestly  with  me  to  yield  my  will  and  my 
child  to  God.  After  a  long  and  bitter  strug¬ 
gle  God  gained  the  victory,  and  I  told  my 
husband  I  would  give  my  child  to  the  Lord. 
Then  my  husband  prayed,  committing  the 
precious  soul  into  the  Lord’s  keeping. 

While  he  was  praying  I  noticed  that  the 
rapid,  hard  breathing  of  the  child  had  ceased. 
Thinking  my  darling  was  gone,  I  hastened 
for  a  light,  for  it  was  dark ;  but  on  examining 
the  child’s  face  I  found  that  he  had  sunk  into 
a  deep,  sound,  natural  sleep,  which  lasted 
most  of  the  night.  The  following  day  he 
was  practically  well  of  the  dysentery. 

To  me  it  has  always  seemed  that  the  Lord 
tested  me  to  almost  the  last  moment;  then, 
when  I  yielded  my  dearest  treasure  to  him 
and  put  my  Lord  first,  he  gave  back  the  child. 

While  writing  the  above  I  came  across  an 


“Go  Forward  on  Your  Knees”  27 

extract  from  the  Christian  of  March  12, 
1914,  in  which  the  editor  said: 

“Speaking  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Huntingdon  County  Hospital,  Lord  Sand¬ 
wich  referred  to  the  power  of  spiritual  heal¬ 
ing,  and  premising  that  the  finite  mind  cannot 
measure  the  power  of  the  infinite,  said  he 
‘looked  forward  to  the  day  when  the  spiritual 
doctrine  of  healing  and  the  physical  discov¬ 
eries  of  science  will  blend  in  harmonious 
combination,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
benefit  of  humanity.’  ” 


IV 


A  GOD-GIVEN  FIELD  (1894-1900) 

“Lord,  there  is  none  beside  thee  to  help, 
between  the  mighty  and  him  that  hath  no 
strength ;  help  us,  O  Lord  our  God ;  for  we 
rely  on  thee,  and  in  thy  name  are  come 
against  this  multitude”  (2  Chron.  14:11). 

THE  story  of  the  opening  of  Changte  is 
so  connected  by  a  chain  of  prayer  that  to 
give  isolated  instances  of  prayer  would  be  to 
break  the  chain. 

A  few  months  after  our  arrival  in  China 
an  old,  experienced  missionary  kindly  volun¬ 
teered  to  conduct  Mr.  Goforth  and  his  col¬ 
league,  who  had  just  arrived,  through  North 
Honan,  that  they  might  see  the  field  for 
themselves. 

Traveling  southward  by  cart,  they  crossed 
the  border  into  Honan  early  one  morning. 
As  my  husband  walked  beside  the  carts,  that 
morning,  he  felt  led  to  pray  that  the  Lord 
would  give  that  section  of  Honan  to  him  as 
his  field.  The  assurance  came  that  his 
prayer  was  granted.  Opening  his  daily  text¬ 
book,  he  found  the  passage  for  that  morning 
was  from  Isaiah  55:8-13.  Like  a  precious 

28 


A  God-Given  Field 


29 


promise  of  future  blessing  for  that  field  came 
the  words:  “As  the  rain  cometh  down,  and 
the  snow  from  heaven,  and  returneth  not 
thither,  but  watereth  the  earth,  and  maketh  it 
bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to 
the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater :  so  shall  my 
word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth: 
it  shall  not  return  unto  me  void.” 

For  six  years,  however,  our  faith  was 
sorely  tested. 

Of  all  places,  Changte  seamed  most  deter¬ 
mined  to  keep  out  the  missionary.  And  there 
were  other  difficulties  in  the  way.  A  presby¬ 
tery  had  been  formed  as  others  joined  us,  and 
all  matters  had  to  be  decided  by  that  body. 
Two  stations  that  had  been  opened,  where  a 
foothold  could  first  be  gained,  required  all, 
and  more  than  all,  the  force  we  then  had.  So 
for  six  years  the  door  to  Changte  remained 
fast  closed.  But  during  all  those  years  Mr. 
Goforth  never  once  lost  sight  of  God’s  prom¬ 
ise  to  him,  nor  failed  to  believe  it. 

Again  and  again,  when  Mr.  Goforth  and 
his  colleague  visited  the  city,  they  were 
mobbed  and  threatened,  the  people  showing 
the  utmost  hostility.  But  the  day  came,  at 
last,  when  the  long-prayed- for  permission 
from  the  presbytery  to  open  Changte  was 
granted.  The  very  next  morning  found  Mr. 
Goforth  en  route  for  Changte,  to  secure 


30 


God  Answers  Prayer 


property  for  a  mission  site.  Often  has  he 
told  how,  all  the  way  over  that  day  to  Chang- 
te,  he  prayed  the  Lord  to  open  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  and  make  them  willing  to  give 
him  the  property  most  suitable  for  the  work. 
Within  three  days  of  his  reaching  Changte 
he  had  thirty-five  offers  of  property,  and  was 
able  to  secure  the  very  piece  of  land  he  had 
earlier  chosen  as  most  ideal  for  the  mission. 

Thus  the  Lord  did  break  in  pieces  the  gates 
of  brass  which  had  kept  us  so  long  from  our 
promised  land. 

A  year  later  I  joined  my  husband  there, 
with  our  three  little  children.  It  was  arranged 
that  our  colleague  should  take  charge  of  the 
outside  evangelism,  while  we  opened  work  at 
the  main  station. 

To  understand  what  it  meant  for  us  to 
have  our  need  supplied,  there  should  be  some 
knowledge  of  what  that  need  was. 

We  decided,  from  the  first,  that  no  one 
should  be  turned  from  our  doors.  Mr.  Go¬ 
forth  received  the  men  in  the  front  guest¬ 
room,  while  the  women  and  children  came  to 
our  private  quarters.  During  those  first 
weeks  and  months  hundreds,  nay  thousands, 
crowded  to  see  us.  Day  by  day  we  were 
literally  besieged.  Even  at  meal-time  our 
windows  were  banked  with  faces. 


A  God-Given  Field 


31 


The  questions  ever  before  us  those  days 
were  —  how  to  make  the  most  of  this  won¬ 
derful  opportunity,  which  would  never  come 
again  after  the  period  of  curiosity  was  past ; 
how  to  win  the  friendship  of  this  people,  who 
showed  in  a  hundred  ways  their  hatred  and 
distrust  of  us ;  how  to  reach  their  hearts  with 
our  wonderful  message  of  a  Saviour’s  love? 

All  that  was  in  our  power  was  to  do,  day 
by  day,  what  we  could  with  the  strength  that 
was  given  us.  From  early  morning  till  dark, 
sometimes  nine  or  ten  hours  a  day,  the  strain 
of  receiving  and  preaching  to  these  crowds 
was  kept  up.  My  husband  had  numbers  of 
workmen  to  oversee,  material  for  building  to 
purchase,  and  to  see  to  all  the  hundred  and 
one  things  so  necessary  in  building  up  a  new 
station.  Besides  all  this  he  had  to  receive, 
and  preach  to,  the  crowds  that  came.  He 
had  no  evangelist,  Mr.  Wang  being  then 

loaned  to  Mr.  MacG — - .  I  had  my  three 

little  children,  and  no  nurse  or  Bible-woman. 
When  too  exhausted  to  speak  longer  to  the 
courtyard  of  women,  I  would  send  for  my 
husband,  who  though  tired  out  would  speak 
in  my  stead.  Then  we  would  rest  ourselves, 
and  entertain  the  crowd,  by  singing  a  hymn. 

So  the  days  passed.  But  we  soon  realized 
that  help  must  come,  or  we  would  both  break 
down. 


32  God  Answers  Prayer 

One  day  Mr.  Goforth  came  to  me  with  his 
Bible  open  at  the  promise,  “My  God  shall 
supply  all  your  need,”  and  asked:  “Do  we 
believe  this?  If  we  do,  then  God  can  and 
will  supply  us  with  some  one  to  help  preach 
to  these  crowds,  if  we  ask  in  faith.” 

He  prayed  very  definitely  for  a  man  to 
preach.  With  my  doubt-blinded  heart,  I 
thought  it  was  as  if  he  were  asking  for  rain 
from  a  clear  sky.  Yet,  even  while  he  prayed, 
God  was  moving  one  to  come  to  us.  A  day 
or  two  later  there  appeared  at  the  mission  the 
converted  opium  fiend,  Wang  Fu-Lin,  whose 
conversion  has  been  already  recorded. 

No  one  could  have  looked  less  like  the  an¬ 
swer  to  our  prayers  than  he  did.  Fearfully 
emaciated  from  long  years  of  excessive 
opium  smoking,  racked  with  a  cough  which 
three  years  later  ended  his  life,  dressed  in 
such  filthy  rags  as  only  a  beggar  would  wear, 
he  presented  a  pitiable  sight.  Yet  the  Lord 
seeth  not  as  man  seeth. 

After  consulting  together  Mr.  Goforth  de¬ 
cided  to  try  him  for  a  few  days,  believing 
that  he  could  at  least  testify  to  the  power  of 
God  to  save  a  man  from  his  opium.  Soon  he 
was  reclothed  in  some  of  my  husband’s  Chi¬ 
nese  garments ;  and  within  an  hour  or  two  of 
his  entering  the  mission  gate,  practically  a 
beggar,  he  was  seated  in  charge  of  the  men’s 


A  God-Given  Field 


33 


chapel,  so  changed  one  could  scarcely  have 
recognized  him. 

From  the  first  day  of  his  ministry  at 
Changte  there  was  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of 
any  who  heard  him  that  he  had  indeed  been 
sent  to  us  by  our  gracious  God,  for  he  had  in 
a  remarkable  degree  the  unction  and  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  His  gifts  as  a  speaker 
were  all  consecrated  to  one  object  —  the  win¬ 
ning  of  souls  to  Jesus  Christ.  He  seemed 
conscious  that  his  days  were  few,  and  al¬ 
ways  spoke  as  a  dying  man  to  dying  men. 
Little  wonder  is  it,  therefore,  that  from  the 
very  beginning  of  his  ministry  in  our  chapel 
men  were  won  to  Christ.  God  spared  him  to 
us  for  the  foundation  laying  of  the  church  at 
Changte,  then  called  him  higher. 

Mr.  Goforth’s  need  was  relieved  by  the 
coming  of  Wang  Fu-Lin,  but  not  mine.  The 
remarkable  way  God  had  sent  him,  however, 
gave  me  courage  and  faith  to  trust  God  to 
give  me  a  Bible-woman.  Those  who  know 
anything  of  mission  work  in  China  will  agree 
with  me  that  it  is  far  more  difficult  to  find 
women  than  men  who  are  able  to  preach  the 
Gospel ;  or  if  able,  who  are  free  for  the  work. 
But  I  was  beginning  to  learn  that  God  is  lim¬ 
ited  only  from  the  human  side ;  and  that  he 
is  always  willing  to  give  beyond  our  asking, 


34 


God  Answers  Prayer 


if  the  human  conditions  he  has  so  plainly 
laid  down  in  his  Word  are  fulfilled. 

A  short  time  after  I  had  begun  to  ask  my 
Heavenly  Father  definitely  for  a  Bible- 

woman,  Mr.  Mac  G -  came  in  from  a 

tour,  and  his  first  words  were : 

“Well,  Mrs.  Goforth,  I  believe  we  have  a 
ready-made  Bible-woman  for  you!” 

Then  he  told  me  how  he  had  come  across  a 
widow  and  her  son  in  a  mountain  village,  who 
had  heard  the  Gospel  from  a  recent  convert 
out  of  one  of  the  other  stations.  This  man 
had  been  a  member  of  the  same  religious  sect 
as  the  widow  and  her  son.  When  he  found 
Christ  he  at  once  thought  of  his  friends,  and 
went  over  the  mountain  to  tell  them.  Mrs. 
Chang  received  the  Gospel  gladly.  She  had 
been  a  preacher  in  that  heathen  sect,  and  had 
gained  the  fluency  in  speaking,  and  power  in 
holding  audiences,  so  necessary  in  the  preach¬ 
ing  of  the  Gospel. 

The  way  was  soon  opened  for  her  to  come 
to  me,  and  she  became  my  constant  compan¬ 
ion  and  valuable  assistant  in  the  women's 
work  during  those  early  years.  She  wit¬ 
nessed  a  good  confession  in  1900  —  being 
strung  up  by  her  thumbs  when  refusing  to 
deny  her  Lord.  Faithfully  she  served  the 
Lord  as  a  Bible-woman,  until  the  time  of  her 
death  in  1903., 


A  God-Given  Field 


35 


During  the  first  two  or  three  years  at 
Chang  Te  Fu  we  lived  in  unhealthy  Chinese 
houses,  which  were  low  and  damp.  It  was 
therefore  thought  best  that  we  should  have  a 
good  semi-foreign  house  built  for  us.  The 
work  at  this  time  was  so  encouraging  — 
converts  being  added  weekly,  and  sometimes 
almost  daily  —  that  we  feared  lest  the  new 
house  would  hinder  the  work,  and  become  a 
separating  barrier  between  ourselves  and  the 
people.  We  therefore  prayed  that  God  would 
make  the  new  house  a  means  of  reaching  the 
people — a  blessing,  and  not  a  hindrance.  The 
answer  to  this  prayer,  as  is  often  the  case, 
depended  largely  upon  ourselves.  We  had  to 
be  made  willing  to  pay  the  price  that  the  an¬ 
swer  demanded. 

In  other  words,  we  came  to  see  that  in 
order  that  our  prayer  could  be  answered  we 
would  have  to  keep  open  house  every  day  and 
all  day,  which  was  by  no  means  easy.  Some 
assured  us  it  was  wrong,  because  it  would 
make  us  cheap  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese; 
others  said  it  was  wrong  because  of  the  dan¬ 
ger  of  infection  to  the  children.  But  time 
proved  these  objections  to  be  unfounded. 
The  very  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest  were 
received,  and  their  friendship  won  by  this 
means.  And,  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  our 
children  never  met  any  contagion  because  of 


36  God  Answers  Prayer 

this  way  of  receiving  the  people  into  our 
house. 

The  climax  in  numbers  was  reached  in  the 
spring  of  1899,  when  eighteen  hundred  and 
thirty-five  men  and  several  hundred  women 
were  received  by  us  in  one  day.  These  were 
first  preached  to  in  large  bands,  and  then  led 
through  the  house.  We  have  seen  evidences 
of  the  good  of  this  plan  in  all  parts  of  our 
field.  It  opened  the  hearts  of  the  people 
toward  us,  and  helped  us  to  live  down  suspi¬ 
cion  and  distrust  as  nothing  else  could  have 
done. 

In  May  of  1898  we  started  down  to  Tien¬ 
tsin  by  houseboat,  with  our  children,  for  a 
much-needed  rest  and  change.  Cold,  wet 
weather  soon  set  in.  Twelve  days  later,  as 
we  came  in  sight  of  Tientsin,  with  a  bitter 
north  wind  blowing,  our  eldest  child  went  on 
deck  without  his  overcoat,  in  disobedience  to 
my  orders.  Shortly  after  the  child  came  in 
with  a  violent  chill.  That  afternoon,  when 
we  arrived  in  Tientsin,  the  doctors  pro¬ 
nounced  the  verdict  —  pneumonia. 

The  following  day,  shortly  after  noon,  a 
second  doctor,  who  had  been  called  in  con¬ 
sultation,  met  a  friend  on  his  way  from  our 
boy’s  bedside  and  told  her  he  did  not  think 
the  child  could  live  till  morning.  I  had 


A  God-Given  Field 


37 


taken  his  temperature,  and  found  it  to  be  106. 
He  was  extremely  restless,  tossing  in  the 
burning  fever.  Sitting  down  beside  him, 
with  a  cry  to  the  Lord  to  help  me,  I  said  dis¬ 
tinctly  :  “P - ,  you  disobeyed  me,  and  have 

thus  brought  this  illness  upon  yourself.  I 
forgive  you;  ask  Jesus  to  forgive  you,  and 
give  yourself  to  him.” 

The  child  looked  at  me  for  a  moment 
steadily,  then  closed  his  eyes.  I  saw  his  lips 
move  for  a  moment ;  then  quietly  he  sank  into 
a  sound  sleep.  When  he  awoke,  about  dusk, 
I  took  his  temperature,  and  found  it  ioi.  By 
the  time  the  doctor  returned  it  was  normal, 
and  did  not  rise  again.  Although  he  had 
been  having  hemorrhage  from  the  lungs,  this 
ceased. 

Is  not  Jesus  Christ  the  same  yesterday,  to¬ 
day,  and  forever  ?  Why  should  we  wonder, 
therefore,  at  his  healing  touch  in  this  age? 
“According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you.” 

During  those  early  pioneer  years,  when 
laying  the  foundation  of  the  Changte  Church, 
my  own  weak  faith  was  often  rebuked  when 
I  saw  the  results  of  the  simple,  child-like  faith 
of  our  Chinese  Christians.  Some  of  those 
answers  to  prayer  were  of  such  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  character  that,  when  told  in  the  home¬ 
land,  even  ministers  expressed  doubts  as  to 


38 


God  Answers  Prayer 


their  genuineness.  But,  praise  God,  I  know 
they  are  true.  Here  are  two  concrete  exam¬ 
ples. 

Li-ming,  a  warm-hearted,  earnest  evangel¬ 
ist,  owned  land  some  miles  north  of  Chang 
Te  Fu.  On  one  occasion,  when  visiting  the 
place,  he  found  the  neighbors  all  busy  placing 
around  their  fields  little  sticks  with  tiny  flags. 
They  believed  this  would  keep  the  locusts 
from  eating  their  grain.  All  urged  Li-ming 
to  do  the  same,  and  to  worship  the  locust  god, 
or  his  grain  would  be  destroyed.  Li-ming 
replied:  “I  worship  the  one  only  true  God, 
and  I  will  pray  him  to  keep  my  grain,  that 
you  may  know  that  he  only  is  God.” 

The  locusts  came  and  ate  on  all  sides  of  Ti¬ 
ming’s  grain,  but  did  not  touch  his.  When 
Mr.  Goforth  heard  this  story  he  determined 
to  get  further  proof,  so  he  visited  the  place 
for  himself,  and  inquired  of  Li-ming’s  hea¬ 
then  neighbors  what  they  knew  of  the  matter. 
One  and  all  testified  that,  when  the  locusts 
came,  their  grain  was  eaten  and  Li-ming’s 
was  not. 

The  Lord  Jesus  once  said,  after  a  conflict 
with  unbelief  and  hypocrisy:  “I  thank  thee, 
O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  be¬ 
cause  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them 
unto  babes.” 


A  God-Given  Field 


39 


Our  little  Gracie  became  ill  with  a  terribly 
fatal  disease,  so  common  in  malarious  dis¬ 
tricts  —  enlarged  spleen.  The  doctors  pro¬ 
nounced  her  condition  quite  hopeless.  One 
day  a  Chinese  Christian  woman  came  in  with 
her  little  child,  of  about  the  same  age  as  our 
Gracie,  and  very  ill  with  the  same  disease. 
The  poor  mother  was  in  great  distress,  for 
the  doctor  had  told  her  also  that  there  was  no 
hope.  She  thought  that  if  we  would  plead 
with  the  doctor  he  could  save  her  child.  At 
last  Mr.  Goforth  pointed  to  our  little  Gracie, 
saying:  “Surely,  if  the  doctor  cannot  save 
our  child,  neither  can  he  save  yours;  your 
only  hope  and  ours  is  in  the  Lord  himself/’ 

The  mother  was  a  poor,  hard-working,  ig¬ 
norant  woman,  but  she  had  the  simple  faith 
of  a  little  child.  Some  few  weeks  later  she 
called  again,  and  told  me  the  following  story : 

“When  the  pastor  told  me  my  only  hope 
was  in  the  Lord,  I  believed  him.  When  I 
reached  home  I  called  my  husband,  and  to¬ 
gether  we  had  committed  our  child  into  the 
Lord’s  hands.  I  felt  perfectly  sure  the  child 
would  get  well,  so  I  did  not  take  more  care  of 
him  than  of  a  well  child.  In  about  two  weeks 
he  seemed  so  perfectly  well  that  I  took  him  to 
the  doctor  again,  and  the  doctor  said  that  he 
could  discover  nothing  the  matter  with  him.” 

That  Chinese  child  is  now  a  grown-up, 


40 


God  Answers  Prayer 


healthy  man.  And  our  child  died Yet  we 
had  prayed  for  her  as  few,  perhaps,  have 
prayed  for  any  child.  Why,  then,  was  she 
not  spared  ?  I  do  not  know.  But  I  do  know 
that  there  was  in  my  life,  at  that  time,  the  sin 
of  bitterness  toward  another,  and  an  unwill¬ 
ingness  to  forgive  a  wrong.  This  was  quite 
sufficient  to  hinder  any  prayer,  and  did  hinder 
for  years,  until  it  was  set  right. 

Does  this  case  of  unanswered  prayer  shake 
my  faith  in  God’s  willingness  and  power  to 
answer  prayer?  No,  no!  My  own  child 
might  just  as  reasonably  decide  never  again 
to  come  to  me  with  a  request  because  I  have, 
in  my  superior  wisdom,  denied  a  petition.  Is 
it  not  true,  in  our  human  relationships  with 
our  children,  that  we  see  best  to  grant  at  one 
time  what  we  withhold  at  another  ?  “What 
I  do  thou  knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt 
know  hereafter.’’ 

And  one  of  the  most  precious  experiences 
of  God’s  loving  mercy  came  to  me  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  our  little  Grade's  death.  We  had 
been  warned  that  the  end  would  probably 
come  in  convulsions;  two  of  our  dear  chil¬ 
dren  had  been  so  taken.  Only  a  mother  who 
has  gone  through  such  an  experience  can 
fully  understand  the  horror  of  the  possibility 
that  such  might  come  again  at  any  time. 

One  evening  I  was  watching  beside  our 


A  God-Given  Field 


41 


little  one,  Miss  P - being  with  me,  when 

suddenly  the  child  said  very  decidedly :  “Call 
Papa;  I  want  to  see  Papa.”  I  hesitated  to 
rouse  her  father,  as  it  was  his  time  to  rest ;  so 
I  tried  to  put  her  off  with  some  excuse ;  but 
again  she  repeated  her  request,  and  so  I  called 
her  father,  asking  him  to  walk  up  and  down 
with  her  until  I  returned. 

Going  into  the  next  room  I  cried  in  an 
agony  to  the  Lord  not  to  let  Gracie  suffer; 
but,  if  it  was  indeed  his  will  to  take  the  child, 
then  to  do  so  without  her  suffering.  As  I 
prayed  a  wonderful  peace  came  over  me,  and 
the  promise  came  so  clearly  it  was  as  if 
spoken :  “Before  they  call  I  will  answer ;  and 
while  they  are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear.” 

Rising,  I  was  met  at  the  door  by  Miss  P - 

who  said:  “Gracie  is  with  Jesus.”  While  I 
was  on  my  knees  our  beloved  child,  after  rest¬ 
ing  a  few  moments  in  her  father’s  arms,  had 
looked  into  his  face  with  one  of  her  loveliest 
smiles,  and  then  quietly  closed  her  eyes  and 
had  ceased  to  breathe.  No  struggle,  no  pain, 
but  a  “falling  on  sleep.” 

“Like  as  a  father  pitieth, ...  so  the  Lord 
pitieth.” 

Ever-darkening  clouds  gathered  about  us 
during  the  months  following  Gracie’s  death ; 
and  while  the  storm  did  not  burst  in  all  its 


42 


God  Answers  Prayer 


fury  till  the  early  summer  of  1900,  yet  the 
preceding  winter  was  full  of  forebodings  and 
constant  alarms. 

On  one  occasion  thousands  gathered  inside 
and  outside  our  mission,  evidently  bent  on 
serious  mischief.  My  husband  and  his  col¬ 
leagues  moved  in  and  out  all  that  day  among 
the  dense  crowd  which  filled  the  front  court¬ 
yards  ;  while  we  women  remained  shut 
within  closed  houses,  not  knowing  what  mo¬ 
ment  the  mob  would  break  loose  and  destroy 
us  all.  What  kept  them  back  that  day? 
What  but  trustful  prayer!  And  the  Lord 
heard  that  day,  and  wonderfully  restrained 
the  violence  of  our  enemies. 

We  did  not  know  then,  but  those  experi¬ 
ences  were  preparing  us  for  the  greater  trials 
and  perils  awaiting  us  all. 


V 


OUR  DELIVERANCE  FROM 
THE  BOXERS  (1900) 

“God  is  unto  us  a  God  of  deliverances” 
(Psa.  68:20,  R.  V.). 

“Who  delivered  us  out  of  so  great  a  death, 
and  will  deliver:  on  whom  we  have  set  our 
hope  that  he  will  also  still  deliver”  (2  Cor. 

1 : 10,  R.  V.). 

MANY  times  we  were  asked  in  the  home¬ 
land  to  tell  the  story  of  our  escape  dur¬ 
ing  the  Boxer  uprising,  and  often  the  ques¬ 
tion  was  put,  “If  it  was  really  God’s  power 
that  saved  you  and  others  on  that  journey, 
then  why  did  he  not  save  those  of  his  chil¬ 
dren  who  were  so  cruelly  done  to  death?” 

For  a  time  this  question  troubled  me. 
Why  indeed?  One  day  when  seeking  for 
light  on  the  matter  I  was  directed  to  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  Acts.  There  I  found  the 
only  answer  that  can  be  given.  We  are  told 
in  the  second  verse  that  James  was  put  to 
death  by  the  sword ;  then  the  rest  of  the  chap¬ 
ter  is  given  to  the  detailed  record  of  Peter’s 
wonderful  deliverance  in  answer  to  prayer 
(vs.  5,  12).,  In  that  day  when  all  things 
shall  be  revealed  I  am  convinced  we  shall 


44 


God  Answers  Prayer 


see  that  prayer  had  much  to  do  in  the  work¬ 
ing  out  of  our  deliverance.  When  the  first 
cable  was  received  in  Canada  informing  the 
home  church  of  our  party  starting  on  that 
perilous  journey,  we  are  told  a  great  wave 
of  prayer  went  up  for  us  from  Christians  of 
all  denominations.  The  Presbyterian  As¬ 
sembly  of  Canada  was  meeting  at  the  time, 
and  one  session  was  given  up  entirely  to 
prayer  on  behalf  of  the  missionaries  in  China. 
Never  had  that  body  witnessed  such  a  sea¬ 
son  of  intense,  united  intercession. 

Later  when  giving  the  story  of  our  escape 
in  the  homeland,  repeatedly  we  have  had 
people  come  to  us  telling  how,  during  the 
weeks  which  elapsed  between  the  first  cable 
informing  the  home  church  of  our  danger, 
and  the  second  cable,  which  told  of  our  safe 
arrival  at  the  coast,  they  had  never  ceased  to 
cry  to  God  to  save  us.  Then,  too,  after 
all  is  said,  we  must  believe  God  was  glorified 
and  God’s  purposes  were  fulfilled  in  the  death 
of  some  as  in  the  saved  lives  of  others.  The 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  still  the  seed  of  the 
Church. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  June,  1895,  that  an 
incident  occurred  which  has  ever  been  linked 
in  my  mind  with  the  events  of  1900.  I  was 
about  to  leave  Toronto  with  my  four  chil¬ 
dren  to  join  my  husband  in  China,  when  a 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  45 

cable  was  received  telling  of  the  cruel  massa¬ 
cre  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  and  others. 
Deep  and  widespread  sympathy  was  ex¬ 
pressed  and  much  anxiety  felt  for  mission¬ 
aries  generally  in  China.  Many  urged  me 
to  delay  our  return ;  but  I  felt  it  best  to  keep 
to  our  original  plans,  and  a  few  days  later 
found  us  bidding  farewell  to  friends  at  the 
Union  Station,  Toronto. 

Just  as  the  train  was  leaving  a  lady  step¬ 
ped  forward  quickly  to  the  window  and  said, 
“You  do  not  know  me,  but  I  have  prayed 
the  Lord  to  give  me  a  promise  for  you ;  it  is 
this,  take  it  as  from  Him,”  and  handed  me  a 
slip  of  paper.  I  opened  the  paper  and 
read,  “No  weapon  that  is  formed  against 
thee  shall  prosper”  (Isa.  54:  17).  Then  and 
there  I  raised  my  heart  to  God  in  prayer  that 
he  would  fulfil  this  promise  to  me  and  those 
dear  to  me;  and  as  I  prayed  there  came  the 
clear  assurance  that  the  Lord  heard. 

Never  can  we  forget  that  winter  of  1899- 
1900.  The  clouds  had  begun  to  gather,  and 
the  mutter ings  of  the  coming  storm  were 
heard  on  all  sides  of  us.  Repeatedly  we  were 
as  a  mission  in  gravest  danger,  and  at  such 
times  were  literally  “shut  up  to  God.”  The 
temper  of  the  people  was  such  that  any  little 
thing  angering  them  would  have  been  as  a 
spark  to  gunpowder. 


46 


God  Answers  Prayer 


From  the  time  of  the  government  crisis 
of  the  autumn  of  1899,  we,  in  company  with 
all  other  foreigners  in  China,  realized  that 
conditions  were  becoming  serious,  yet  never 
did  we  expect  or  prepare  for  such  a  cata¬ 
clysm  as  took  place  when  the  storm  clouds 
suddenly  burst  in  the  early  summer  of  1900. 

The  first  indication  we  had  of  coming 
danger  was  when  our  mail  carriers  running 
to  and  from  Tientsin  were  stopped  and  our 
mails  returned.  Thus,  cut  off  from  the  out¬ 
side  world,  we  had  to  depend  solely  upon  the 
wild  rumors  afloat  among  the  Chinese  for 
information.  The  country  around  us  became 
daily  more  disturbed;  day  by  day  we  could 
hear  the  beating  of  drums  and  the  cries  of 
the  people  for  rain.  The  darkness  and 
horror  of  those  days,  in  the  midst  of  which 
sickness  and  death  entered  our  home,  can 
never  be  forgotten.  On  the  nineteenth  of 
June  our  eldest  daughter,  Florence,  after  a 
week  of  intense  suffering,  was  released  from 
pain.  It  was  while  her  life  was  still  hang¬ 
ing  in  the  balance  that  we  received  the  first 
communication  from  the  American  Consul 
in  Chef 00  urging  us  to  flee.  This  message 
was  quickly  followed  by  another  still  more 
urgent. 

The  question  was,  where  could  we  flee? 
Our  usual  route  was  by  river  boat  two  weeks 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  47 


to  Tientsin,  but  this  way  was  blocked,  the 
whole  region  being  infested  with  Boxers, 
and  Tientsin  even  then  in  a  state  of  siege. 
The  only  possible  route  left  open  to  us  was 
southward  by  cart,  —  fourteen  days  to  Fan- 
cheng, —  then  ten  or  more  days  by  houseboat 
to  Hankow.  We  faced  such  a  journey  at 
that  time  of  the  year  with  fear  and  trem¬ 
bling  because  of  the  children,  the  danger 
from  heat  and  sun  being  very  great.  Gladly 
would  we  have  stayed,  but  the  Chinese  Chris¬ 
tians  urged  us  to  go,  saying  they  could  escape 
more  easily  were  we  not  there. 

We  had  with  us  our  four  remaining  chil¬ 
dren:  Paul,  nine;  Helen,  six;  Ruth,  under 
three;  and  baby  Wallace,  eight  months. 
Their  faithful  Chinese  nurse,  though  weep¬ 
ing  bitterly  at  parting  from  her  old  mother 
of  almost  eighty,  decided  to  come  with  us. 
There  were  altogether  in  the  party  five  men, 
six  women,  and  five  children,  besides  the 
servants  and  carters. 

Many  were  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
getting  carts  and  other  necessary  things  for 
the  journey,  but  one  by  one  all  things  needed 
were  provided  as  we  besought  the  Lord  to 
open  the  way.  There  were  many  indications 
on  that  journey  that  God’s  purpose  was  to 
save  us;  one  of  the  most  striking  of  these 
happened  just  as  we  were  about  to  leave. 


48 


God  Answers  Prayer 


The  day  previous  to  our  departure  a  mes¬ 
sage  passed  through  the  city  of  Chang  Te 
Ho,  the  messenger  riding  at  breakneck  speed. 
This  messenger,  we  learned  later,  was  en- 
route  for  the  Provincial  Capital  with  the 
sealed  message  from  the  Empress  Dowager 
commanding  the  death  of  all  foreigners.  We 
had  planned  first  to  take  the  direct  route 
south,  which  would,  as  far  as  we  can  now 
see,  have  led  us  to  our  death,  for  this  route 
would  have  taken  us  through  the  capital. 
Almost  at  the  last  moment,  and  quite  un¬ 
aware  of  the  danger  on  the  direct  route, 
we  were  led  to  change  our  plans  and  take  a 
route  farther  west,  though  it  made  a  consid¬ 
erably  longer  journey. 

We  left  Chang  Te,  June  28,  1900,  at  day¬ 
break.  At  Wei  Hwei  Fu,  the  first  large  city 
to  which  we  came,  an  attempt  was  made  to 
break  into  our  inn,  but  as  we  prayed  the  mob 
dispersed  and  we  were  left  in  peace.  On 
July  first  we  reached  the  north  bank  of  the 
Yellow  River,  and  there  for  a  short  time  (it 
was  Sunday  afternoon)  we  rested  under  the 
trees.  Little  did  we  dream  that  even  then 
many,  very  many,  of  our  fellow-missionaries 
and  personal  friends  were  being  done  to 
death  by  the  merciless  Boxers.,  At  sunset 
the  ferry  which  carried  us  across  the  river 
reached  the  south  bank,  and  here  we  found 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  49 

several  missionaries  and  a  party  of  engineers 
waiting  for  us.  These  latter  were  fully 
armed  and  had  a  fair  escort.  After  some 
difficulty  it  was  decided  that  we  should  all 
keep  together,  but  in  reality  this  party  kept 
by  themselves,  except  that  we  stayed  in  the 
same  towns  at  night.  Each  day  that  passed 
seemed  harder  than  the  last,  the  heat  was 
intense,  and  the  ten  or  twelve  hours  of  bump¬ 
ing  over  rough  roads  in  springless  carts 
made  even  a  bed  spread  on  the  ground  a 
welcome  resting-place. 

Once,  when  Mr.  Goforth  had  jumped  off 
our  cart  to  get  fresh  water  for  our  head 
cloths,  a  crowd  gathered  round  him  and  be¬ 
came  very  threatening,  raising  the  cry,  “Kill, 
kill.”  All  the  other  carts  were  ahead,  and 
the  carter  would  not  wait  for  Mr.  Goforth, 
as  he  was  afraid.  During  the  few  moments 
that  elapsed  before  my  husband  was  allowed 
to  join  us  even  the  carter  turned  pale  with 
suspense, —  and  oh,  how  I  prayed ! 

Except  for  a  few  similar  passing  dangers, 
nothing  special  occurred  until  the  evening 
of  July  seventh,  when  we  reached  the  small 
town  of  Hsintien.  We  had  heard  during  the 
day  that  the  whole  country  ahead  of  us  was 
in  a  state  of  ferment  against  the  Roman 
Catholics.  Scarcely  had  we  reached  the  inn 
when  the  engineers  and  the  missionaries  with 


50 


God  Answers  Prayer 


them  who  had  become  increasingly  alarmed 
at  the  condition  of  the  country,  informed  us 
that  they  were  going  on  to  the  large  city  of 
Nan  Yang  Fu  that  night,  but  would  leave 
us  two  soldiers  and  two  of  their  carts.  Mr. 
Goforth  did  not  wish  them  to  go,  for  he  felt 
it  would  greatly  increase  our  danger. 

Shortly  after  they  left  us  the  mob  began 
to  gather  outside  our  inn.  The  gate  was 
barricaded  with  carts.  For  hours  stones 
were  thrown  against  the  gate  and  demand 
was  made  for  our  money.  A  messenger  was 
at  once  sent  after  the  engineers'  party,  ask¬ 
ing  them  to  return.  All  that  night  was 
spent  in  sleepless  suspense. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  messenger  re¬ 
turned  with  the  reply  that  they  had  failed  to 
get  help  from  the  Nan  Yang  Fu  official  and 
were  obliged  to  push  on.  As  soon  as  the 
carters  heard  we  were  thus  left  helpless  a 
panic  seized  them,  and  it  was  with  great  diffi¬ 
culty  they  could  be  persuaded  to  harness  their 
animals.  All  this  time  the  crowd  had  been 
becoming  more  dense,  as  we  could  see 
through  the  cracks  of  the  gate,  and  were 
ominously  quiet.  Hints  had  been  given  us 
of  coming  danger,  but  that  was  all;  none 
spoke  of  what  all  felt,  —  that  we  were  prob¬ 
ably  going  to  our  death. 

Suddenly,  without  the  slightest  warning, 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  51 


I  was  seized  with  an  overwhelming  fear  of 
what  might  be  awaiting  us.  It  was  not  the 
fear  of  after  death,  but  of  probable  torture, 
that  took  such  awful  hold  of  me.  I  thought, 
“Can  this  be  the  Christian  courage  I  have 
looked  for?”  I  went  by  myself  and  prayed 
for  victory,  but  no  help  came.  Just  then 
some  one  called  us  to  a  room  for  prayer  be¬ 
fore  getting  into  our  carts.  Scarcely  able  to 
walk  for  trembling,  and  utterly  ashamed 
that  others  should  see  my  state  of  panic,  — 
for  such  it  undoubtedly  was,  —  I  managed 
to  reach  a  bench  beside  which  my  husband 
stood.  He  drew  from  his  pocket  a  little 
book,  “Clarke’s  Scripture  Promises,”  and 
read  the  verses  his  eye  first  fell  upon.  They 
were  the  following : 

“The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,  and  under¬ 
neath  are  the  everlasting  arms :  and  he  shall 
thrust  out  the  enemy  from  before  thee;  and 
shall  say,  Destroy  them.” 

“The  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge.” 

“Thou  art  my  help  and  my  deliverer; 
make  no  tarrying,  O  my  God.” 

“I  will  strengthen  thee;  yea,  I  will  help 
thee;  yea,  I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  right 
hand  of  my  righteousness.  .  .  .  The  Lord  thy 
God  will  hold  thy  right  hand,  saying  unto 
thee,  Fear  not;  I  will  help  thee.” 

“If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?” 


52 


God  Answers  Prayer 


“We  may  boldly  say,  The  Lord  is  my 
helper,  and  I  will  not  fear  what  man  shall  do 
unto  me.” 

The  effect  of  these  words  at  such  a  time 
was  remarkable.  All  realized  that  God  was 
speaking  to  us.  Never  was  there  a  message 
more  directly  given  to  mortal  man  from  his 
God  than  that  message  to  us.  From  almost 
the  first  verse  my  whole  soul  seemed  flooded 
with  a  great  peace;  all  trace  of  panic  van¬ 
ished  ;  and  I  felt  God’s  presence  was  with  us. 
Indeed,  his  presence  was  so  real  it  could 
scarcely  have  been  more  so  had  we  seen  a 
visible  form. 

After  prayer  we  all  got  on  our  carts,  and 
one  by  one  passed  out  into  the  densely  crowd¬ 
ed  street.  As  we  approached  the  city  gate 
we  could  see  that  the  road  was  black  with 
crowds  awaiting  us.  I  had  just  remarked  to 
my  husband  on  how  well  we  were  getting 
through  the  crowds,  when  our  carts  passed 
through  the  gates.  My  husband  turned  pale 
as  he  pointed  to  a  group  of  several  hundred 
men,  fully  armed,  awaiting  us.  They  waited 
till  all  the  carts  had  passed  through  the  gate, 
then  hurled  down  upon  us  a  shower  of  stones, 
at  the  same  time  rushing  forward  and  maim¬ 
ing  or  killing  some  of  the  animals.  Mr. 
Goforth  jumped  down  from  our  cart  and 
cried  to  them,  “Take  everything,  but  don’t 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  53 

kill.”  His  only  answer  was  a  blow.  The 
confusion  that  followed  was  so  great  it  would 
be  impossible  to  describe  the  escape  of  each 
one  in  detail.  Each  one  later  had  his  or  her 
own  testimony  of  that  mighty  and  merciful 
deliverance.  But  I  must  give  the  details  of 
Mr.  Goforth’s  experience. 

One  man  struck  him  a  blow  on  the  neck 
with  a  great  sword  wielded  with  two  hands. 
“ Somehow”  the  blunt  edge  of  the  sword 
struck  his  neck;  the  blow  left  a  wide  mark 
almost  around  his  neck,  but  did  no  further 
harm.  Had  the  sharp  edge  struck  his  neck 
he  would  certainly  have  been  beheaded ! 

His  thick  helmet  was  cut  almost  to  pieces, 
one  blow  cutting  through  the  leather  lining 
just  over  the  temple,  but  without  even 
scratching  the  skin ! 

Again  he  was  felled  to  the  ground,  with  a 
fearful  sword  cut,  which  entered  the  bone  of 
the  skull  behind  and  almost  cleft  it  in  two. 
As  he  fell  he  seemed  to  hear  distinctly  a 
voice  saying,  “Fear  not,  they  are  praying 
for  you.”  Rising  from  this  blow,  he  was 
again  struck  down  by  a  club.  As  he  was 
falling  almost  unconscious  to  the  ground  he 
saw  a  horse  coming  at  full  speed  toward 
him;  when  he  became  conscious  again  he 
found  the  horse  had  tripped  and  fallen  (on 
level  ground)  so  near  that  its  tail  almost 


54 


God  Answers  Prayer 


touched  him.  The  animal,  kicking  furiously, 
had  served  as  a  barrier  between  him  and  his 
assailants.  While  dazed  and  not  knowing 
what  to  do  a  man  came  up  as  if  to  strike,  but 
whispered,  “Leave  the  carts.”  By  that  time 
the  onlookers  began  to  rush  forward  to  get 
the  loot,  but  the  attacking  party  felt  the 
things  were  theirs,  so  desisted  in  their  at¬ 
tack  upon  us  in  order  to  secure  their  booty. 

A  word  as  to  myself  and  the  children. 
Several  fierce  men  with  swords  jumped  on 
my  cart.  One  struck  at  the  baby,  but  I 
parried  the  blow  with  a  pillow,  and  the  little 
fellow  only  received  a  slight  scratch  on  the 
forehead.  Then  they  dropped  their  swords 
and  began  tearing  at  our  goods  at  the  back 
of  the  cart.  Heavy  boxes  were  dragged  over 
us,  and  everything  was  taken.  Just  then  a 
dreadful  looking  man  tried  to  reach  us  from 
the  back  of  the  cart  with  his  sword,  missing 
by  an  inch.  I  thought  he  would  come  to  the 
front  and  continue  his  attack,  but  he  did  not. 
I  had  seen  Mr.  Goforth  sink  to  the  ground 
covered  with  blood  twice,  and  had  given  him 
up  for  dead,  just  then  Paul,  who  had  been 
in  the  last  cart,  jumped  in,  wild  with  delight 
at  what  he  seemed  to  think  was  great  fun, 
for  he  had  run  through  the  thick  of  the  fight, 
dodging  sword  thrusts  from  all  sides,  and 
had  succeeded  in  reaching  me  without  a 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  55 


scratch.  A  moment  later  my  husband  came 
to  the  edge  of  the  cart  scarcely  able  to  stand, 
saying,  “Get  down  quickly;  we  must  not 
delay  in  getting  away.”  As  I  was  getting 
down  one  man  snatched  away  my  hat,  an¬ 
other  my  shoes;  but  we  were  allowed  to  go. 

Ruth  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  we 
hoped  she  was  with  the  missionaries  who  had 
charge  of  her  at  the  time  of  attack.  I  saw 
that  Mr.  Goforth’s  strength  was  failing  fast, 
for  he  could  scarcely  walk,  and  as  men  began 
to  follow  I  urged  him  forward  with  the  baby 
and  the  other  two  children,  and  turning  faced 
the  men,  begging  them  to  have  mercy  on  my 
children,  for  they  had  begun  to  stone  us. 
Some  of  us  were  black  for  days  from  the 
blows  received  then.  They  stopped  and  lis¬ 
tened,  then  the  leader  said,  “We’ve  killed  her 
husband,  let  her  go.”  With  this  they  ran 
back  to  the  carts. 

I  knew  Mr.  Goforth  could  not  go  far.  We 
could  see  a  small  village  not  far  distant,  and 
to  this  we  hastened,  praying  as  we  went  that 
the  Lord  would  open  the  hearts  of  the  people 
to  receive  us.  Here  again  Paul  seemed  to 
feel  no  fear,  but  said,  “Mother,  what  does 
this  put  you  in  mind  of  ?  It  puts  me  in  mind 
of  the  Henty  books !” 

As  we  neared  the  village  men  came  out  to 
drive  us  away,  but  I  begged  them  to  help  us. 


56  God  Answers  Prayer 

By  this  time  Mr.  Goforth  had  sunk  to  the 
ground.  Putting  the  baby  in  an  old  woman's 
arms,  I  knelt  down  beside  my  husband.  The 
children  were  crying  bitterly.  Mr.  Goforth 
looked  as  if  he  were  dying.  The  women 
standing  round  us  were  weeping  now.  This 
was  too  much  for  the  men,  who  came  for¬ 
ward  saying,  “We  will  save  you.”  One  ran 
and  got  some  stuff  to  put  in  the  wounds,  as¬ 
suring  us  it  would  stop  the  flow  of  blood,  and 
it  did.  This  man  helped  me  to  bandage  up 
the  wounds  with  bandages  made  from  gar¬ 
ments  taken  from  myself  and  the  children. 
They  helped  my  husband,  and  we  followed 
them  into  a  little  hut,  where  they  laid  him  on 
a  straw  bed  and  locked  us  in.  Hot  water  for 
bathing  our  bruises,  food  and  drink  were 
handed  us  through  a  small  window,  and  we 
could  hear  them  planning  how  they  would 
save  us.  We  told  them  how  anxious  we  were 
to  hear  of  our  friends  and  little  Ruth,  so  they 
sent  a  man  to  inquire. 

We  found  that  these  people  —  the  whole 
village — were  Mohammedans,  and  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  attack.  We  felt  that  God  had 
wonderfully  directed  our  steps  to  that  village. 

All  that  day  Mr.  Goforth  lay  still,  but 
looked  at  times  so  very  white  that  I  feared 
the  worst.  Never  for  one  moment,  I  believe, 
during  that  day  did  I  cease  to  pray  for  his 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  57 


life.  And  when  Mr. - ,  one  of  our  party, 

arrived  about  four  o’clock  looking  for  us,  Mr. 
Goforth  at  once  got  up  as  if  perfectly  well, 
insisting  on  walking  to  the  cart.  To  me, 
knowing  how  he  had  looked  that  day,  it 
seemed  only  a  miracle.  His  only  answer  to 
my  protest  was,  “Only  pray;  the  Lord  will 
give  me  strength,  as  long  as  he  has  work  for 
me  to  do.” 

As  we  were  leaving,  the  kind  friends  of  the 
village  gathered  round  insisting  on  my  taking 
some  old  clothes  to  put  round  the  children, 
who  were  almost  naked,  saying,  “It  will 
be  chilly  at  night.”  As  we  went  forward  to 

join  the  others,  Mr. - told  us  how  one  by 

one  all  had  escaped.  Dr. - was  the  only 

one  beside  Mr.  Goforth  seriously  injured,  the 
poor  fellow  having  had  his  kneecap  severed 
and  the  tendons  of  his  right  wrist  badly  cut, 
besides  many  other  wounds. 

All  that  day  our  friends  had  been  waiting 
by  the  roadside,  unable  to  proceed  without 
carts,  owing  to  the  doctor’s  condition.  They 
had  joined  in  one  petition,  that  God  would 
move  the  carters  to  come.  Those  who  know 
China  and  heathen  carters  will  readily  ac¬ 
knowledge  that  it  was  nothing  short  of  a  mir¬ 
acle — the  miracle  of  answered  prayer — that 
made  these  heathen  carters  come,  after  all 
they  had  already  gone  through.  For  come 


58 


God  Answers  Prayer 


they  did,  five  of  them,  all  that  were  needed, 
now  that  our  luggage  was  gone.  We  learned 
too,  that  our  faithful  Chinese  nurse,  who 
had  charge  of  Ruth,  had  saved  the  child  at 
the  risk  of  her  own  life,  lying  upon  the  child 
and  taking  many  cruel  blows,  till  greed  for 
loot  drew  the  men  off. 

We  soon  joined  the  rest  of  the  party,  and 
by  six  o’clock  that  evening  we  reached  the 
large  city  of  Nang  Yang  Fu.  The  city  wall 
was  black  with  people,  and  as  we  entered  the 
gate  the  wild  crowds  crushed  against  our 
carts.  Sometimes  the  animals  staggered,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  save  the  carts 
from  being  overturned.  Every  moment  or 
two  a  brick  or  stone  would  be  hurled  against 
the  carts,  and  that  cry,  “Kill,  kill,”  which  can 
never  be  forgotten  when  once  heard,  was 
shouted  by  perhaps  hundreds  of  voices.  Yet 
the  Lord  brought  us  through,  and  “no 
weapon  prospered.” 

When  we  reached  the  inn  a  wild  mob  of 
over  a  thousand  men  filled  the  inn  yard ;  and 
as  we  alighted  from  the  cart  these  men  liter¬ 
ally  drove  us  before  them  into  one  room, 
which  in  a  few  moments  was  packed  to  suffo¬ 
cation.  For  probably  an  hour  the  crowd 
kept  crushing  us  into  one  corner ;  then  those 
outside  became  impatient  at  not  being  able  to 
get  in,  and  demanded  that  we  be  brought  out. 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  59 

We  managed  to  keep  some  of  the  ladies  from 
going  out ;  but  the  rest  of  us  —  men,  women, 
and  children  —  stood  facing  that  seething 
multitude  until  relief  came  in  the  darkness. 
Why  did  they  not  kill  us  then?  Why,  in¬ 
deed?  None  but  an  Almighty  God  kept  that 
crowd  back. 

As  soon  as  we  had  reached  the  city  a  ser¬ 
vant  was  sent  to  the  official  demanding  pro¬ 
tection.  It  was  dark  when  this  man  returned, 
in  a  state  of  great  agitation;  his  story  was 
that  as  he  was  waiting  for  an  answer  from 
the  official  he  overheard  a  conversation  be¬ 
tween  two  soldiers,  and  gathered  from  what 
they  said  that  the  official  had  sent  a  party  of 
fifty  soldiers  along  the  road  that  we  would 
have  to  take,  with  the  order  that  every  one  of 
us  must  be  put  to  death.  The  official  was 
afraid  to  have  us  killed  in  the  city  lest  he 
should  afterward  be  blamed ;  but  by  this  plan 
he  could  say  brigands  had  done  the  deed.  So 
sure  was  this  servant  that  we  were  all  to  be 
massacred  that  he  would  remain  with  us  no 
longer,  but  returned  that  night  to  Honan 
with  the  report  that  we  were  all  killed. 

A  consultation  was  held,  and  the  question 
was,  should  we  stay  in  the  city  and  again  de¬ 
mand  protection,  or  should  we  go  on  and 
trust  God  to  open  our  way  ?  The  latter  course 
was  decided  upon.  But  for  a  long  time  the 


60 


God  Answers  Prayer 


carters  utterly  refused  to  go  farther  with 
us.  Again  prayer  opened  up  our  way,  and 
by  two  o’clock  in  the  morning  all  were  ready 
to  start. 

The  official  had  sent  a  few  foot-soldiers  to 
guide  us  to  the  right  road!  (to  the  waylaying 
party).  The  night  was  very  dark,  and  as  we 
were  passing  through  the  gate  of  the  city  we 
noticed  what  seemed  to  be  signal  lights  put 
out  and  drawn  in.  We  all  felt  these  to  be 
signals  to  the  waylaying  party  ahead.  A 
short  distance  from  the  city,  probably  about 
one  hundred  yards,  our  carts  suddenly 
stopped.  Some  one  ran  up  and  whispered  to 
Mr.  Goforth,  “Paul  and  Mr. - are  miss¬ 

ing.”  Search  was  made  for  them,  but 
without  success. 

A  veil  must  be  drawn  over  those  terrible 
hour9  of  suspense;  my  faith  seemed  to  fail 
me,  and  I  could  only  cry  in  my  agony,  “If 
Paul  is  gone,  can  I  ever  trust  God  again?” 
Then  I  remembered  how  marvelously  God 
had  given  me  back  my  dear  husband’s  life, 
and  I  just  committed  Paul  into  his  hands  and 
waited  to  see  what  he  would  do. 

When  all  hope  was  given  up  of  finding  the 
missing  ones,  a  cart  was  left  behind  with  a 
trusted  servant,  and  we  went  on.  Then  we 
saw  God’s  wonderful  plan  for  us.  While  we 
were  waiting  the  soldiers  had  fallen  asleep  in 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  61 


the  carts,  and  were  not  aware  that  the  carters 
were  taking  a  side  road  until  we  had  gotten 
miles  from  the  city  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
our  would-be  murderers !  The  soldiers  were 
infuriated  at  this  discovery;  but  after  some 
threatening  they  left  us  and  returned  to  the 
city.  Thus  again  we  saw  that  God  was  in¬ 
deed  unto  us  a  “God  of  deliverances.” 

Again  and  again  that  day  we  were  sur¬ 
rounded  by  mobs.  Many  times  I  held  up  the 
poor,  dirty  clothes  which  the  Mohammedans 
had  given  us,  and  the  story  of  how  these  had 
been  given  quieted  the  people  perhaps  more 
than  anything.  Once  the  cry  was  raised  to 
drag  our  children’s  nurse  out  of  the  cart;  but 
as  we  cried  to  God  for  her  the  people  let  us 
alone,  and  we  passed  on.  At  another  time  a 
man  snatched  the  remains  of  Mr.  Goforth’s 
helmet  away  from  us,  and  tore  it  to  pieces.  I 
had  hoped  to  keep  it  as  a  trophy  should  we 
ever  get  out  safely. 

We  were  at  this  time  in  a  pitiable  condi¬ 
tion.  Most  of  the  men  had  head  or  arms 

bandaged;  Dr. - was  unable  to  raise  his 

head.  What  we  suffered  in  those  carts  with 
nothing  but  the  boards  under  us  cannot  be 
told.  Nine  persons  were  packed  in  our  cart, 
which  under  ordinary  circumstances  would 
have  held  four  or  five.  At  noon  we  reached 
a  large  city,  where  the  animals  had  to  rest  and 


62 


God  Answers  Prayer 


feed.  Then  again  we  saw  an  evidence  of  the 
Lord’s  loving  kindness  over  us. 

Just  as  we  were  getting  down  from  our 
carts  the  crowd  became  very  threatening,  and 
it  looked  now  as  if  our  hour  had  indeed 
come;  but  at  this  critical  juncture  two  well- 
dressed  young  men  of  official  class  came 
through  the  crowd,  greeting  Mr.  Goforth  in 
great  surprise.  They  had  been  received  by 
him  in  our  home  at  Chang  Te  Ho.  A  few 
words  of  explanation  were  spoken,  then  they 
turned  quickly  to  the  crowd  and  told  them 
who  we  were  and  of  the  work  at  Chang  Te 
Ho.  The  attitude  of  the  people  changed  in¬ 
stantly,  and  they  made  way  for  us,  giving  us 
good  rooms,  and  food  was  brought  which 
was  greatly  needed. 

That  noon,  as  one  after  another  came  up 
to  express  their  sympathy  at  Paul’s  loss,  I 
could  say  nothing  —  I  was  waiting  to  see 
what  God  would  do.  When  Mr.  Goforth 
told  the  young  officials  about  Paul  and  Mr. 

- ,  they  were  greatly  concerned,  and 

promised  to  send  men  at  once  to  search  for 
them.  These  friends  in  need  sent  with  us  a 
man  of  the  district  to  guide  and  help  us,  and 
also  wrote  an  urgent  letter  to  the  official  of 
the  city  we  were  to  stay  in  that  night,  asking 
him  to  give  us  an  escort  and  help  us  in  every 
way  he  could. 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  63 

About  four  o’clock  that  afternoon  a  man 
came  running  after  us  with  the  joyful  news 

that  Paul  and  Mr. - were  safe,  and  would 

reach  us  that  night.  As  I  heard  this  news  my 
unbelief  and  faithlessness  in  the  hour  of  test¬ 
ing  came  over  me  with  overwhelming  force, 
and  I  could  only  bow  my  head  and  weep.  Oh, 
the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God !  Never  had 
the  love  of  God  seemed  so  wonderful  as  in 
that  hour. 


“Could  we  with  ink  the  ocean  fill, 

Were  the  whole  sky  of  parchment  made, 
Were  every  blade  of  grass  a  quill, 

And  every  man  a  scribe  by  trade; 

To  write  the  love  of  God  above 
Would  drain  that  ocean  dry, 

Nor  could  the  scroll  contain  the  whole 
Though  stretched  from  sky  to  sky.” 


That  night  we  reached  our  destination 
about  nine  o’clock,  having  traveled  seventeen 
hours  over  those  roads,  with  but  a  short 
break  at  noon.  It  was  marvelous  how  Mr. 
Goforth  was  sustained,  for  he  was  obliged  to 
start  at  once  for  the  official’s  residence  with 
the  note  I  have  already  referred  to.  On  the 
way  through  the  street  the  mob  about  suc¬ 
ceeded,  several  times,  in  getting  him  down 
under  their  feet ;  but  God  was  with  him,  and 
he  reached  the  Yamen  in  safety,  being  courte¬ 
ously  received  by  the  official,  who  promised 


64 


God  Answers  Prayer 


us  protection,  and  sent  him  back  to  the  inn 
under  escort. 

When  Paul  and  Mr.  -  arrived  that 

night,  they  tried  in  vain  to  wake  me,  but 
nature  had  to  have  her  way.  I  knew  nothing 
till  I  wakened  with  a  start  at  about  two  A.M. 
Jumping  up,  I  started  to  look  for  Paul,  and 
never  can  I  forget  the  scene!  The  whole 
party  was  lying  on  the  bare  earthen  floor, 
practically  without  bedding  or  mattresses. 

A  word  concerning  the  experiences  of  Mr. 

- -  and  Paul.  The  two  had  got  down 

from  their  cart  and  were  walking  behind.  In 
some  way  they  missed  the  road  in  the  dark, 
and  became  separated  from  us.  During  that 
day  they  were  repeatedly  in  the  gravest 
danger. 

On  one  occasion,  when  surrounded  by  a 
violent  mob,  and  one  man  had  raised  a  club 
above  Paul’s  head  to  strike  him  down,  Mr. 

- felt  impelled  by  some  unseen  power  to 

shout  out,  “We  are  not  Roman  Catholics, 
but  Protestants.”  At  this  the  man  lowered 
his  club,  exclaiming,  “Why,  these  are  not  the 
bad  foreign  devils,  but  the  good  foreign 
devils,  like  those  missionaries  at  Chow  Chia 
K’eo”  (China  Inland  Mission).  At  this  same 
place  the  hearts  of  the  people  seemed  turned 
toward  them  in  a  wonderful  way.  One  man 
gave  Paul  one  hundred  cash  (five  cents)  to 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  65 

buy  some  food ;  another  man  carried  the  lad 
on  his  back  for  miles  to  give  his  feet  a  rest, 
they  were  so  sore.  This  same  man,  when  he 
could  carry  Paul  no  longer,  ran  ahead  to  try 
and  find  us.  When  they  reached  the  inn 
where  we  had  been  so  helped  by  the  two  Chi¬ 
nese  gentlemen,  they  found  that  these  friends 
had  food  prepared  and  a  barrow  waiting,  also 
a  guide  ready  to  lead  them  to  us ! 

Less  than  an  hour  from  the  time  I  awak¬ 
ened  we  were  on  the  road  again.  The  official 
was  true  to  his  promise,  and  a  large  mounted 
escort  accompanied  us.  That  day  we  were 
on  the  road  twenty  hours,  reaching  Fan 
Cheng  at  midnight.  Here  we  found  the  en¬ 
gineers’  party  waiting  for  us  with  boats 
hired,  but  we  were  obliged  to  remain  twenty- 
four  hours  in  the  most  loathsome  inn  we  ever 
had  the  misfortune  to  be  in  in  China.  It  was 
an  unspeakable  relief  to  get  into  the  house¬ 
boats,  even  though  we  only  had  bare  boards 
to  lie  on,  and  the  boat  people’s  food  to  eat. 

We  were  ten  days  going  down  stream  to 
Hankow.  One  after  the  other  became  ill. 
When  still  a  day  from  Hankow,  a  steam  tug 
met  us  with  provisions.  Our  children  cried 
at  the  sight  of  bread  and  milk!  We  were  not 
allowed  to  stop  long  enough  at  Hankow,  as 
we  had  hoped,  to  get  clothes  and  other  neces¬ 
saries,  but  were  obliged  to  hasten  on  by  the 


66  God  Answers  Prayer 

first  steamer,  which  left  the  following  morn¬ 
ing.  I  was  obliged  to  borrow  garments  for 
myself  and  the  children  from  our  fellow- 
passengers. 

At  Shanghai  the  streets  were  being  parad¬ 
ed,  and  every  preparation  was  being  made 
for  an  attack.  We  learned  with  deep  sorrow 
of  the  death  of  many  dear  friends  at  the 
hands  of  the  Boxers.  Ordered  home  by  the 
first  steamer,  without  anything  left  to  us  but 
the  old  clothes  we  had  on  at  the  time  of  the 
attack,  how  could  we  get  ready  in  such  a 
short  time  for  the  long  home  voyage  ?  There 
was  no  lack  of  money,  for  our  Board  had 
cabled  all  we  needed.  The  question  that 
faced  us  was  how  could  I  get  clothes  made 
for  six  of  us  in  such  a  short  time,  with  Chi¬ 
nese  tailors  too  busy  to  help,  no  machine  to 
be  had,  and  no  ready-made  clothes  to  be 
bought  except  for  Mr.  Goforth  and  Paul. 

Again  I  found  that  man’s  extremity  was 
but  God’s  opportunity.  He  was  true  to  his 
promise,  “God  shall  supply  all  your  need.” 
Even  as  I  knelt  in  an  agony  of  prayer,  be¬ 
seeching  God’s  help,  and  asking  definitely 
that  some  one  should  be  sent  to  me  to  help 
with  the  sewing,  two  ladies  were  at  the  door 
asking  for  me !  These  were  perfect  strang¬ 
ers,  but  had  seen  our  names  among  the  recent 
refugees,  and  God  had  moved  them  to  come 


Our  Deliverance  from  the  Boxers  67 

and  offer  their  assistance !  They  worked  for 
me  night  and  day  until  we  had  to  get  on 
board  the  steamer.  Never  shall  I  forget  their 
Christian  fellowship  and  practical  help  at 
that  time. 

But  in  the  rush  to  get  the  older  children 
ready,  baby  Wallace’s  clothes  were  neglected. 
There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  take  materi¬ 
als  and  make  things  for  him  on  the  voyage. 
In  this  connection  came  a  most  wonderful 
and  precious  evidence  of  God’s  power  to  an¬ 
swer  prayer.  For  the  first  few  days  of  the 
journey  I  worked  early  and  late  trying  to 
make  something  for  the  little  one,  who  had 
scarcely  anything  to  wear;  but  as  we  were 
nearing  Yokohama  I  realized  I  had  almost 
reached  the  end  of  my  strength.  My  needle 
refused  to  work;  try  as  I  would  I  could  not 
even  see  where  to  put  the  needle. 

Folding  up  my  work  I  went  down  to  the 
stateroom,  and  kneeling  down  I  spread  the 
work  before  the  Lord.  Too  far  gone  to 
agonize  in  prayer,  I  could  only  quietly,  al¬ 
most  mutely,  just  tell  him  how  the  poor  child 
had  no  clothes.  Rising  with  a  great  sense  of 
the  burden  having  been  lifted,  I  put  the  work 
away,  locking  it  in  a  trunk,  then  went  up  on 
deck  and  lay  down  almost  insensible  from  ex¬ 
haustion.  How  long  a  time  passed  I  do  not 
know,  but  it  could  not  have  been  more  than 


68 


God  Answers  Prayer 


half  an  hour  when  some  one  came  and 
touched  me,  saying,  “We  have  dropped  an¬ 
chor  in  Yokohama  Bay,  and  a  large  bundle 
has  been  thrown  up  on  deck  from  the  lighter 
for  you.” 

“For  me !”  I  cried.  “Surely  not ;  I  know 
no  one  in  Japan.”  Then  I  thought,  “It  is 
the  answer  come !” 

Going  down  I  found  a  letter  from  Mrs. 
O.  E.,  of  the  China  Inland  Mission.  She 
said  that  her  little  son,  the  same  age  as  baby 
Wallace,  had  died  four  months  before,  and 
the  Lord  had  pressed  her  to  send  his  com¬ 
plete  outfit  to  me  for  my  child !  Opening  the 
parcel,  I  found  not  only  everything  the  child 
could  possibly  need  for  a  year  or  more,  but 
much  else.  Had  some  one  stood  beside  that 
dear  sister  and  told  her  what  I  most  needed, 
she  could  not  have  done  differently.  Yes, 
surely  Some  One  did  direct  her  loving  hands, 
and  Some  One  just  used  her  as  one  of  his 
channels ;  for  she  lived  near  to  him,  and  was 
an  open  channel. 

Three  days  later  my  own  collapse  came; 
but  praise  his  great  name,  he  was  with  me  in 
the  darkness  and  brought  me  through. 


VI 


PROVING  GOD’S  FAITHFULNESS 

(1902-1908) 

“The  safest  place  ...  is  the  path  of  duty.” 

ONE  of  the  results  of  our  gracious  and 
merciful  deliverance  from  the  hands  of 
the  Boxers  was  an  increased  desire  to  make 
our  lives  tell  in  the  service  of  God  —  to 
spend  and  be  spent  for  him.  Our  Heavenly 
Father  saw  this  and  just  took  us  at  our  word, 
and  led  us  out  into  the  path  which  meant  ab¬ 
solute  surrender  as  I  had  never  known  it 
before. 

It  is  so  true  that  “God  will  be  no  man’s 
debtor.”  When  he  asks  for  and  receives  our 
all,  he  gives  in  return  that  which  is  above 
price  —  his  own  presence.  The  price  is  not 
great  when  compared  with  what  he  gives  in 
return ;  it  is  our  blindness  and  our  unwilling¬ 
ness  to  yield  that  make  it  seem  great. 

The  following  story  has  been  asked  for 
many  times.  Believing  that  it  has  a  lesson 
for  others,  I  give  it,  though  to  do  so  means 
lifting  the  veil  from  a  very  sacred  part  of  my 
life. 


69 


70 


God  Answers  Prayer 


After  the  Boxer  experience,  my  husband 
returned  to  China  in  1901 ;  and,  with  my 
children,  I  left  for  China  in  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1902,  leaving  the  two  eldest  chil¬ 
dren  at  the  Chefoo  schools,  en  route 
to  Honan.  Mr.  Goforth  met  me  at  Tien¬ 
tsin,  and  together  we  traveled  by  river- 
boat  inland  a  journey  of  about  twenty- four 
days.  During  those  long,  quiet  days  on  the 
river-boat  my  husband  unfolded  to  me  a 
carefully  thought  out  plan  for  future  mis¬ 
sion  work. 

He  reminded  me  that  six  missionaries, 
from  a  mission-station  which  had  been  de¬ 
stroyed  by  the  Boxers,  were  now  perma¬ 
nently  stationed  at  Chungte;  and  that  the 
main  station,  now  fully  equipped,  no  longer 
needed  us  as  before.  He  felt  that  the  time 
had  come  when  we  should  give  ourselves  to 
the  evangelization  of  the  great  regions  north 
and  northeast  of  Changte  —  regions  which 
up  to  that  time  had  been  scarcely  touched  by 
the  Gospel,  because  of  lack  of  workers.  His 
plan  was  that  we  —  husband  and  wife,  with 
our  children  —  should  go  and  live  and  work 
among  the  people. 

To  make  this  possible  a  native  compound 
would  be  rented  in  the  center,  where  we 
would  stay  a  month  for  our  first  visit,  leaving 
behind  an  evangelist  to  carry  on  the  work; 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  71 

and  we  would  revisit  this  and  other  places  so 
opened  as  many  times  as  possible  in  the  year. 

What  this  proposition  meant  to  me  can 
scarcely  be  understood  by  those  unfamiliar 
with  China  and  Chinese  life.  Smallpox, 
diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  and  other  conta¬ 
gious  diseases  are  chronic  epidemics;  and 
China,  outside  the  parts  ruled  by  foreigners, 
is  absolutely  devoid  of  sanitation. 

Four  of  our  children  had  died.  To  take 
the  three  little  ones,  then  with  me,  into  such 
conditions  and  danger  seemed  literally  like 
stepping  with  them  over  a  precipice  in  the 
dark  and  expecting  to  be  kept.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  had  the  language  and  experi¬ 
ence  for  just  such  work,  the  need  was  truly 
appalling,  and  there  was  no  other  woman  to 
do  it.  In  my  innermost  soul  I  knew  the  call 
had  come  from  God,  but  I  would  not  pay  the 
price.  My  one  plea  in  refusing  to  enter  that 
life  was  the  risk  to  the  children. 

Again  and  again  my  husband  urged  that 
“the  safest  place”  for  myself  and  the  children 
“was  the  path  of  duty”  ;  that  I  could  not  keep 
them  in  our  comfortable  home  at  Changte, 
but  “God  could  keep  them  anywhere.”  Still 
I  refused.  Just  before  reaching  our  station 
he  begged  me  to  reconsider  my  decision. 
When  I  gave  a  final  refusal,  his  only  answer 
was :  “I  fear  for  the  children.” 


72 


God  Answers  Prayer 


The  very  day  after  reaching  home  our  dear 
Wallace  was  taken  ill.  For  weeks  we  fought 
for  his  life;  at  last  the  crisis  passed  and  he 
began  to  recover.  Then  my  husband  started 
off  alone  on  his  first  trip !  He  had  been  gone 
only  a  day  or  two  when  our  precious  baby 
Constance,  a  year  old,  was  taken  down  with 
the  same  disease  that  Wallace  had.  From  the 
first  there  seemed  little  or  no  hope.  The 
doctors,  a  nurse,  and  all  the  little  mission 
circle  joined  in  the  fight  for  her  life.  Her 
father  was  sent  for,  but  arrived  just  as  she 
was  losing  consciousness.  A  few  hours  later, 
when  we  were  kneeling  round  her  bedside 
waiting  for  the  end,  my  eyes  seemed  sud¬ 
denly  opened  to  what  I  had  been  doing  —  I 
had  dared  to  fight  against  Almighty  God. 

In  the  moments  that  followed  Gpd  revealed 
himself  to  me  in  such  love  and  majesty  and 
glory  that  I  gave  myself  up  to  him  with  un¬ 
speakable  joy.  Then  I  knew  that  I  had  been 
making  an  awful  mistake,  and  that  I  could 
indeed  safely  trust  my  children  to  him  wher¬ 
ever  he  might  lead  One  thing  only  seemed 
plain,  that  I  must  follow  where  God  should 
lead.  I  saw  at  last  that  God  must  come  first. 
Before  the  precious  body  was  laid  away  pre¬ 
parations  for  our  first  trip  were  begun. 

Was  God  faithful  to  the  vision  he  had 
given  me?  Or  did  he  allow  the  children 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  73 

to  suffer  in  the  years  that  followed,  when 
months  each  year  were  spent  with  them 
right  out  among  the  people?  As  I  write 
this,  eighteen  years  have  passed  since  we 
started  on  that  first  trip,  and  none  of  our  chil¬ 
dren  have  died.  Never  had  we  as  little  sick¬ 
ness  as  during  that  life.  Never  had  we  so 
much  evidence  of  God’s  favor  and  blessing  in 
a  hundred  ways  —  as  may  be  gathered  from 
the  definite  testimonies  which  follow. 

Without  one  exception,  every  place  in 
which  we  stayed  for  a  month,  and  opened  as 
my  husband  had  planned,  became  in  time  a 
growing  church. 

And  I  found,  to  my  surprise,  that  I  was 
able  to  give  more  time  to  the  children,  that  I 
was  able  to  guard  them  better  when  on  those 
trips  than  when  in  the  Changte  Station.  For 
the  mission  compound  was  large,  and  often 
the  children  were  out  of  my  sight  for  hours 
at  a  time;  whereas  the  outside  native  com¬ 
pounds  we  lived  in  were  so  small  the  children 
were  always  within  sight  and  reach.  Even 
when  groups  of  women  were  listening  to  the 
Gospel,  I  was  able  to  direct  the  children’s 
lessons.  As  I  look  back  on  that  time,  my 
heart  is  filled  with  overflowing  gratitude  to 
God  for  the  wonderful  grace  and  strength  he 
gave  for  that  life. 

My  great  regret  is  that  I  did  not  keep  a 


74 


God  Answers  Prayer 


record  of  answers  to  prayer.  I  find  it  most 
difficult  to  record  just  what  “asking  and  get¬ 
ting  things  from  God”  meant  at  that  time, 
but  it  now  seems  to  me  to  have  been  the  very 
foundation  of  the  whole  life.  The  instances 
of  answers  to  prayer,  here  recorded,  are  sim¬ 
ply  the  ones  connected  with  that  life  which 
stand  out  most  clearly  in  my  memory  of 
those  years. 

The  first  answer  came  the  morning  after 
our  dear  Constance  died,  and  was  the  one 
that  had  the  greatest,  most  far-reaching  effect 
on  the  new  life  and  its  work. 

As  I  thought  of  facing  the  crowds  of 
heathen  women  day  by  day,  and  what  it 
would  mean  to  carry  on  aggressive  evangel¬ 
ism  outside,  there  was  one  need  I  felt  must  be 
met  —  that  of  a  Bible-woman.  As  I  prayed 
for  direction,  a  Mrs.  Wang  Hsieh-sheng 
came  to  mind  as  the  one  I  should  ask. 

But  when  I  laid  my  request  before  her, 
that  she  come  with  me,  she  burst  into  tears, 
saying:  “I  dare  not.  I  have  only  one  child 
left,  and  it  would  risk  her  life  too  much.” 

Seeing  how  she  felt,  I  did  not  urge  her,  but 
told  her  to  go  and  pray  about  it  for  a  day, 
and  bring  me  her  answer  after  the  funeral 
that  night.  When  she  came  that  evening 
her  face  was  shining  through  tears,  as  she 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  75 

said :  “O  my  Shepherd  Mother,  I  will  go.  If 
you  are  willing  to  risk  your  children  for 
the  sake  of  my  sisters,  how  much  more 
should  I ! ” 

Eighteen  years  have  passed  since  that  day. 
I  would  need  to  write  a  volume  to  record  all 
that  Mrs.  Wang  meant  to  me  in  those  years ; 
yes,  and  to  the  work.  As  the  years  passed 
she  became  my  beloved  companion,  sharing 
in  all  the  responsibilities  and  hardships  of 
that  life,  and  also  in  its  joys.  I  realized  more 
and  more  that  she  was  indeed  a  God-given 
co-worker.  Though  circumstances  have  led 
me  away  from  that  life,  she  still  remains  and 
works  for  her  sisters  in  the  Changte  Church. 

One  of  the  hardest  words  a  missionary  can 
get  from  his  Home  Board  is  the  word  “re¬ 
trench.”  My  husband  and  I  were  on  one  of 
our  evangelistic  tours  north  of  Changte. 
Every  door  seemed  wide  open  before  us,  and 
the  time  ripe  for  a  specially  aggressive  cam¬ 
paign  of  evangelism  for  the  heathen.  But, 
just  as  we  were  planning  for  this,  word 
reached  us  from  our  station  treasurer  of  a 
message  received  from  the  Home  Board  that 
funds  were  low,  and  retrenchment  must  be 
carried  out  along  all  lines. 

To  us  this  meant  dismissing  helpers,  and  a 
general  curtailing  of  our  work*  yVe  faced 


76 


God  Answers  Prayer 


the  question  squarely.  Our  own  tithe  had 
been  long  overdrawn.  How  then  could  we 
support  the  men  we  had,  and  go  on  with  the 
work  which  was  opening  so  gloriously  before 
us  after  years  of  hard  pioneer  preparation? 

But  we  decided  to  go  on  as  we  had  planned, 
and  to  trust  God  for  the  necessary  funds; 
believing  that,  though  for  the  time  being  the 
home  church  had  disappointed  us,  God  would 
not  fail  us. 

The  following  Friday  a  home  mail  reached 
us,  in  which  was  a  letter  from  a  lady  in  New 
Zealand.  The  writer  said  she  had  read  a 
letter  of  ours  in  The  Life  of  Faith,  and 
wished  to  support  an  evangelist  under  us. 
This  relieved  us  of  the  support  of  one  man, 
but  there  were  many  other  needs  as  yet 
unmet. 

The  following  Monday,  when  our  next 
mail  was  forwarded  to  us,  a  letter  came  from 
a  lady  in  Australia,  enclosing  a  draft  ample 
to  meet  every  special  need  in  the  work  for  a 
year  to  come.  She  stated  very  plainly  that 
she  did  not  wish  the  money  put  into  the 
general  funds  of  the  mission,  but  to  be  used 
by  ourselves  in  any  way  we  thought  best.  In¬ 
deed,  had  she  known  the  special  circum¬ 
stances  in  which  the  letter  would  find  us,  she 
could  scarcely  have  written  more  exactly  to 
fit  our  case* 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  77 

Again,  a  year  after  this  experience  of 
God’s  faithfulness  to  meet  all  our  needs,  we 
began  to  feel  the  need  of  special  funds  for 
the  work.  My  husband,  as  usual,  seemed 
quite  sure  that  we  should  keep  on  as  we  had 
been  doing,  and  that  the  money  needed  would 
be  sent.  In  spite  of  all  the  blessed  lessons  of 
the  past,  my  faith  seemed  to  fail  me;  and  I 
spoke  decidedly  against  using  our  salary, 
when  we  needed  it  all  for  ourselves  and  our 
children’s  education.  We  were  traveling 
homeward  by  cart  at  the  time  and  the  matter 
was  dropped ;  though  I  felt  my  husband  was 
hurt  by  my  lack  of  faith. 

When  we  reached  home,  that  evening,  a 
letter  from  a  lady  in  Canada  was  awaiting 
my  husband.  He  read  it  first ;  and  I  cannot 
forget  the  look  on  his  face  as  he  handed  it  to 
me,  with  the  words  “I  told  you  so.” 

As  near  as  I  can  recall  it  the  letter  said: 
“My  mother  and  I  are  strangers  to  you,  never 
having  seen  or  heard  either  you  or  your  wife.. 
But  my  mother,  who  is  an  invalid,  has  for 
some  time  been  restless  because  of  a  convic¬ 
tion  that  has  come  over  her  that  she  should 
send  you  some  money.  So  to  quiet  my 
mother  I  am  sending  you  fifty  dollars.” 

As  I  read  the  letter,  I  certainly  did  feel 
ashamed  of  my  lack  of  faith.  In  writing  our 
acknowledgment,  I  told  how  wonderfully 


78 


God  Answers  Prayer 


opportune  the  gift  had  been.  A  couple  of 
months  or  so  later  came  a  reply,  telling  us 
that  the  invalid  mother  passed  away  soon 
after  my  letter  reached  them;  and  that  the 
story  of  how  God  had  used  her  in  this  matter 
greatly  strengthened  her  faith,  blessing  and 
helping  her  during  the  closing  days  of  her 
life. 

On  one  occasion,  when  we  were  traveling 
from  Wuanhsien  to  Pengcheng,  we  reached 
the  town  of  Hotsun  late  in  the  afternoon,  ex¬ 
pecting  to  stay  over  night.  But  on  our 
arrival  we  found  that  the  Christian  whom 
we  had  sent  to  arrange  for  our  accommoda¬ 
tion  had  failed  to  get  us  a  place,  every  one 
absolutely  refusing  to  take  us  in.  While  the 
animals  were  feeding,  and  we  were  trying  to 
eat  our  dinner  of  Chinese  dough-strings  in 
the  midst  of  a  curious  crowd,  my  husband 
told  the  Christian  to  go  out  again  and  look 
for  a  place  while  we  prayed. 

We  dared  not  close  our  eyes,  lest  the  super¬ 
stitious  heathen  crowd  crushing  against  us 
on  all  sides  would  take  fright,  thinking  we 
were  mesmerizing  them.  So  we  just  lifted 
up  our  hearts  silently  to  our  Father ;  and  be¬ 
fore  many  minutes  had  passed,  indeed  before 
we  had  finished  our  meal,  the  Christian  re¬ 
turned  greatly  rejoiced,  saying:  “A  wealthy 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  79 

man  has  offered  you  a  fine  empty  place  which 
has  just  been  fixed  over.  And  you  can  have 
it  as  long  as  you  like,  free  of  rent.” 

For  three  days  we  preached  in  that  place- 
morning,  noon,  and  night  —  to  great  crowds ; 
and  a  work  was  begun  which  has  gone  on 
ever  since. 

There  were  times  when  my  faith  was  se¬ 
verely  tested,  and  I  fear  too  often  I  did  not 
stand  the  test;  but  oh,  how  patient  God  is 
with  us  in  our  human  weakness.  “Like  as  a 
father  pitieth, ...  so  the  Lord  pitieth.”  The 
Chinese  have  often  said  to  me,  “Your  chil¬ 
dren  seem  made  for  this  life.”  But  I  know 
it  was  God’s  great  goodness.  He  knew  how 
hard  the  life  was,  and  how  difficult  it  would 
have  been  for  me  to  continue  that  work  had 
the  children  been  peevish  or  hard  to  manage. 
Time  and  time  again  we  had  to  get  the  little 
ones  up  before  daybreak  to  start  on  a  cart 
journey,  but  I  do  not  remember  that  they 
ever  even  cried.  They  would  just  wake  up 
enough  to  get  dressed  and  ask  sleepily,  “Are 
we  going  again,  Mama?”  and  then  go  off  to 
sleep  as  soon  as  we  were  settled  in  our  carts. 

On  one  occasion,  arriving  at  a  certain 
town,  we  found  the  place  in  which  we  were 
to  stay  unfit  for  the  children.  It  was  simply 


80 


God  Answers  Prayer 

horrible.  On  either  side  of  us,  almost  reach¬ 
ing  to  our  door,  were  two  great  pigstys  — 
Chinese  pigstys !  In  front  of  the  door  were 
eight  or  ten  great  vessels,  filled  with  ferment¬ 
ing  stuff  which  had  been  there  all  summer, 
and  which  added  to  the  other  varied  and 
oppressive  odors.  I  greatly  feared  for  the 
children,  and  wanted  to  leave  at  once,  but  my 
husband  seemed  calmly  certain  of  the  Lord’s 
power  to  keep  them  from  all  harm. 

On  the  second  evening  the  youngest  child 
became  very  feverish.  Mr.  Goforth  was 
holding  a  meeting  with  the  men.  I  was 
almost  overwhelmed  with  fear  lest  the  child 
had  diphtheria.  Kneeling  down  beside  him, 
I  cried  to  the  Lord  as  only  a  mother  under 
like  circumstances  could  pray.  At  last,  tired 
out,  I  fell  asleep  on  my  knees.  Awakened 
by  the  entrance  of  my  husband,  I  felt  the 
child’s  head  again  and  it  seemed  cooler,  and 
the  child  quieter.  The  following  day  he  was 
quite  well.  Is  it  much  wonder  I  can  say  I 
know  God  answers  prayer? 

Returning  from  our  summer  holiday  the 
first  of  September,  1912,  we  hoped  to  find  a 
place  rented  at  a  certain  large  center  where 
we  had  planned  to  begin  work;  but  to  our 
disappointment  learned  that  the  evangelists 
had  secured  premises  in  a  small  market  vil- 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  81 

lage,  where  there  was  just  one  Christian. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  go  there, 
though  it  seemed  almost  useless,  for  it  was 
the  busiest  season  for  those  farming  people. 

On  our  way  to  this  place  we  prayed  much 
that  the  Lord  would  prepare  the  people,  and 
open  their  hearts  to  the  Gospel.  We  had 
not  been  there  many  days  when  we  became 
convinced  that  we  had  been  led  there,  and 
that  the  Lord  was  opening  the  hearts  of  the 
people  in  a  most  unusual  way.  Crowds  of 
men  and  women  heard  the  preaching  every 
day.  Our  evening  Gospel  meetings,  with 
organ  and  hymn  scroll,  were  crowded  out  on 
to  the  street. 

Everywhere  we  met  with  the  utmost 
friendliness,  and  before  our  month’s  visit 
was  ended  we  had  the  joy  of  seeing  some  of 
the  leading  people  in  the  village  and  district 
come  out  boldly  for  Christ.  One  was  the 
chief  doctor;  another  was  the  head  man  in 
the  market.  In  the  store,  through  which  we 
women  had  to  pass  to  get  to  the  evening 
meeting,  there  were  three  men  and  a  young 
lad  of  fifteen;  all  of  these  were  brought  to 
Christ.  The  men  were  opium  users,  gam¬ 
blers,  men  of  evil  lives.  Two  of  them  are 
now  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  one  is  the 
leading  man  in  the  little  growing  church 
there. 


82 


God  Answers  Prayer 


Had  I  time  and  space  I  could  go  on  multi¬ 
plying  cases  where  the  same  results  have  fol¬ 
lowed  when  the  cross  of  Christ  has  been  the 
pivot  of  all  Christian  teaching,  and  prayer 
has  been  the  source  of  power,. 

On  one  of  the  early  visits  to  the  city  of 
Linchang,  a  woman  came  with  a  little  child 
whose  foot  was  terribly  burned.  The  whole 
foot  was  badly  swollen,  the  inflammation 
reaching  some  distance  up  the  leg.  The  child 
was  feverish,  and  seemed  in  a  serious  condi¬ 
tion.  It  happened  that  on  that  trip  I  had 
forgotten  to  bring  the  simple  remedies  which 
I  was  accustomed  to  take  out  with  me,  so 
the  woman  was  told  nothing  could  be  done. 
But  she  begged  so  piteously  that  I  could  not 
turn  away ;  and  lifting  up  my  heart  in  prayer 
I  asked  the  Lord  to  guide  me,  if  there  was 
anything  I  could  do. 

Even  while  I  prayed  the  thought  of  a 
bread  poultice  came  to  mind.  This  remedy 
seemed  almost  absurd.  I  had  never  heard  of 
such  a  thing  being  used  before  under  like  cir¬ 
cumstances,  but  I  resolved  to  try  it.  Twice 
a  day  the  foot  was  cleansed  and  put  in  the 
poultice,  and  it  was  really  wonderful  to  see 
how  it  healed.  We  were  there  ten  days,  and 
when  we  left  the  foot  was  almost  completely 
well.  The  mother,  father,  the  child  herself, 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  83 

and  indeed  the  whole  family,  became  Chris¬ 
tians.  On  a  later  visit  I  examined  the  foot, 
and  found  not  even  the  sign  of  a  scar  re¬ 
maining. 

I  told  this  incident  not  long  ago  to  a  medi¬ 
cal  doctor,  and  he  said:  “Why,  there  is  no 
miracle  in  that\  It  was  just  up-to-date  hy¬ 
giene —  giving  nature  a  chance  by  cleanli¬ 
ness  !” 

I  replied :  “Doctor,  to  me  the  miracle  lay, 
not  in  the  poultice,  but  in  God's  telling  me 
what  to  use ;  and  now  it  is  to  me  all  the  more 
a  miracle  of  prayer,  since  you  say  it  was  up- 
to-date  hygienic  treatment.” 

At  the  same  place,  some  years  later,  we 
were  conducting  special  tent  meetings  for 
Christians  in  the  day  time,  and  for  the  hea¬ 
then  at  night.  Just  after  our  meetings  began 
the  weather  turned  bitterly  cold,  with  wind 
and  sleety  rain.  The  tent  was  like  a  drafty 
ice-house.  My  husband  caught  a  severe  cold, 
which  became  worse  each  day.  He  had  fever 
and  severe  pains  in  head  and  chest,  but  would 
not  give  up  his  meetings.  One  noon  he 
came  from  the  meeting  looking  very  ill,  and 
lay  down  to  rest  till  the  afternoon  meeting. 

I  determined  to  take  the  Christians  into  my 
confidence,  and  tell  them  of  my  anxiety  for 
Mr.  Goforth.  So,  some  time  before  the 


84  God  Answers  Prayer 

afternoon  meeting  I  slipped  out  and  called 
them  into  the  tent,  telling  them  of  my  hus¬ 
band’s  condition  and  asking  them  to  pray  for 
him.  Oh,  what  a  wave  of  earnest,  heart- 
overflow  of  prayer  went  up  without  a  mo¬ 
ment’s  pause !  The  tears  came  to  my  eyes  as 
I  thought,  “Surely  God  will  answer  such 
prayers !” 

Then,  fearing  my  husband  might  arrive,  I 
gave  out  a  hymn.  A  few  moments  later  he 
walked  into  the  tent  in  his  old  brisk  way, 
looking  quite  well.  At  the  close  of  the  meet¬ 
ing  he  told  me  that  shortly  after  he  heard  me 
go  out  the  pain  in  his  head  and  chest  ceased, 
the  fever  seemed  to  leave  him,  and  when  he 
started  for  the  tent  he  felt  quite  well.  The 
symptoms  did  not  return. 

When  on  a  visit  to  a  certain  out-station, 
after  being  there  two  whole  days,  scarcely 
any  women  had  come  to  see  us.  We  were 
so  circumstanced  that  I  could  not  leave  the 
children.  The  third  day  I  became  so  bur¬ 
dened  in  prayer  that  I  could  only  shut  mysel  f 
up  in  an  empty  room  and  cry  to  the  Lord  to 
send  women  to  us,  as  he  knew  I  could  not 
leave  the  children.  From  that  day  we  always 
had  plenty  of  visitors  to  keep  us  busy,  either 
Christian  women  studying  or  heathen  women 
listening  to  the  Gospel* 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  85 


At  Tzuchow,  the  first  place  we  opened  to¬ 
gether,  the  people  seemed  much  set  against 
us.  After  the  first  period  of  curiosity  was 
over,  no  one  came  to  hear  the  Qospel.  As  we 
had  a  nice  place  for  the  children  to  play  in 
with  their  faithful  nurse, —  the  one  who 
saved  Ruth’s  life  in  1900, —  Mrs.  Wang  and 
I  determined  to  go  out  each  afternoon  and 
try  to  reach  the  heathen  women  with  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  Before  going  out  we  always  prayed  the 
Lord  to  open  a  door  to  us  for  preaching. 
And  as  I  now  recall  that  time,  never  once  did 
we  return  home  without  being  invited  into 
some  home  to  preach,  or  at  least  being  asked 
to  sit  on  a  doorstep  and  tell  of  a  Saviour 
from  sin. 

One  of  the  most  outstanding  evidences  of 
God’s  favor  and  blessing  was  seen,  at  this 
time,  in  the  way  he  provided  my  husband 
with  native  helpers.  To  carry  on  the  plan  of 
work  we  had  adopted  required  a  good  force 
of  trusty  evangelists.  Time  and  again  we 
looked  to  the  Lord  for  men  and  women  to 
help  us,  and  the  answer  always  came. 

As  my  husband  always  seemed  to  have 
plenty  of  men  to  help  him,  he  was  frequently 
asked  for  evangelists  by  his  fellow-mission¬ 
aries  of  both  our  own  and  other  missions.  I 
was  at  first  opposed  to  his  giving  away  his 


86 


God  Answers  Prayer 


best  men,  but  he  would  answer,  “The  Lord 
has  been  good  to  me ;  should  I  be  less  gener¬ 
ous  with  my  brethren?”  And  it  certainly 
was  remarkable  how,  whenever  he  gave  a 
really  valuable  evangelist,  another  man,  even 
better,  was  raised  up  shortly  after.  The 
secret  of  his  getting  men  may  be  seen  best 
through  words  of  his  own,  taken  from  a 
letter  to  a  friend  in  Canada  about  the  time 
of  which  I  am  now  writing : 

“We  came  to  this  little  market  town  in 
September  of  last  year.  My  wife  had  two 
women  workers.  I  had  Mr.  Tung,  the  old 
evangelist,  and  a  young  high  school  graduate 
without  experience,  and  the  only  Christian 
man  in  the  district,  very  ignorant  but  with 
this  to  recommend  him,  that  he  was  con¬ 
verted  or  quickened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
Changte  revival,  and  was  intensely  in  earnest. 
We  were  here  only  about  twenty  days  when 
dozens  began  to  inquire,  among  whom  were 
robbers,  opium  sots,  and  gamblers.  The  work 
went  on  all  day  and  well  on  till  midnight.  We 
were  all  tiring  out.  We  had  not  enough  work¬ 
ers.  It  was  like  a  very  heavy  burden  that 
forced  me  to  my  knees.  I  told  the  Lord  that 
he  was  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  and  that  he 
must  send  more  harvesters.  There  was  a 
time  of  intense  looking  to  God,  almost 
amounting  to  agony,  and  then  the  burden 


Proving  God’s  Faithfulness  87 


lifted,  and  I  knew  that  God  had  answered. 
I  told  my  wife  that  I  was  sure  that  God  was 
going  to  send  me  workers. 

“Now  what  is  the  result?  Since  then  he 
has  sent  me  two  Chinese  B.A.’s,  both  excel¬ 
lent  speakers.  He  moved  an  excellent  elder 
to  give  up  his  business,  and  he  has  been  ap¬ 
pointed  an  evangelist.  At  this  center  a 
scholar,  who  was  an  opium  user  and  gambler, 
got  converted  last  year.  His  progress  has 
been  most  remarkable,  and  it  looks  as  if  he 
is  going  to  make  one  of  the  front-rank 
preachers.  Also  two  brothers  here,  who  were 
among  the  first  converts  last  year,  help  to 
preach,  their  father  —  also  a  convert  of  last 
year  —  providing  their  food.” 

Another  gracious  evidence  of  God's  over¬ 
ruling  providence  was  seen  in  the  way  we, 
especially  the  children,  were  kept  from  con¬ 
tracting  contagious  diseases.  The  Chinese 
carry  their  children  about  everywhere  in 
their  arms,  even  when  sick  with  all  sorts  of 
contagious  diseases. 

I  give  the  following  instance  to  show  how 
impossible  it  was  to  know  when  one  would 
run  into  danger.  Going  to  a  certain  village  for 
a  day’s  preaching,  I  took  with  me  little  Mary, 
then  three  years  of  age.  We  were  waited  on 
by  a  Christian  woman  who  was  most  kind 


88 


God  Answers  Prayer 


and  attentive,  bringing  water  and  food  for 
both  Mary  and  myself.  Being  much  taken 
up  with  preaching  to  the  women,  it  did  not 
occur  to  me  to  ask  why  she  kept  her  baby’s 
face  covered,  for  the  child  was  always  in  her 
arms.  Just  as  we  were  leaving  I  asked  her ; 
then  she  uncovered  the  baby’s  face,  and  to 
my  horror  I  found  that  the  child  was  suffer¬ 
ing  from  smallpox!  For  weeks  I  watched 
Mary’s  temperature,  but  nothing  developed. 

Through  repeated  instances  of  this  kind  I 
came  to  see  that  Mr.  Goforth  was  right  when 
he  said,  “The  safest  place  for  yourself  and 
the  children  is  in  the  path  of  duty.” 

As  I  recall  those  years  of  touring  life  with 
our  children,  words  fail  me  to  tell  of  all  the 
Lord’s  goodness  to  them  and  to  me.  Though 
there  were  many  hard,  hard  places,  these  were 
but  opportunities  for  special  grace  and  help. 
Many  times,  when  discouraged  almost  to  the 
point  of  never  going  out  again  with  the  chil¬ 
dren,  there  would  come  evidence  that  the 
Lord  was  using  our  family  life,  lived  among 
the  people,  to  win  them  to  Christ.  Then  I 
would  take  new  courage,  and  go  again.  Oh, 
it  is  so  true  that 

“We  may  trust  him  fully 
All  for  us  to  do; 

Those  who  trust  him  wholly 
Find  him  wholly  true.” 


VII 


THE  STORY  OF  ONE  FURLOUGH 

(1908-1910) 


“Call  upon  me  in  the  day  of  trouble:  I 
will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me” 
(Psa.  50: 15). 

IN  THE  summer  of  1908  I  was  obliged  to 
return  to  Canada  with  five  of  our  children, 
leaving  Mr.  Goforth  in  China  for  the  revival 
work. 

Reaching  Toronto,  I  learned  that  my  eldest 
son  was  at  death’s  door  from  repeated  at¬ 
tacks  of  rheumatic  fever.  He  was  then 
almost  a  day’s  journey  away.  On  my  way 
there,  as  I  recalled  the  times  in  which  he  had 
been  given  back  to  us  from  the  very  gates  of 
death,  my  faith  was  strengthened  to  believe 
for  his  recovery  again.  But,  as  I  prayed,  it 
became  very  clear  that  the  answer  to  my  peti¬ 
tion  depended  on  myself ;  in  other  words, 
that  I  must  yield  myself  and  my  will  to  God. 

I  had  been  planning  to  take  no  meetings 
during  that  furlough,  but  to  devote  myself 
wholly  to  my  children.  I  confessed  the  sin 
of  planning  my  own  life,  and  definitely  cove- 

89 


90 


God  Answers  Prayer 


nantecl  with  the  Lord  that  if  he  would  raise 
my  son  for  his  service  I  would  take  meetings, 
or  do  anything,  as  he  opened  the  way  for  the 
care  of  the  children. 

There  were  six  difficult  doors,  however, 
that  would  have  to  be  opened  —  not  one,  but 
all  —  before  I  could  possibly  go  out  and 
speak  for  Christ  and  China,  as  God  seemed 
to  be  asking.  First,  the  Lord  would  need  to 
restore  my  son  to  complete  health,  as  I  could 
never  feel  justified  in  leaving  a  sick  child. 
Second,  he  would  need  to  restore  my  own 
health,  for  I  had  been  ordered  to  the  hospital 
for  an  operation.  Third,  he  would  need  to 
keep  all  the  other  children  well.  Fourth,  a 
servant  must  be  sent  to  take  care  of  the  house 
— 'though  my  income  was  so  small  that  a 
servant  seemed  out  of  the  question,  and  only 
the  strictest  economy  was  making  both  ends 
meet.  Fifth,  a  Christian  lady  would  need  to 
be  willing  to  take  care  of  the  children,  and 
act  as  my  housekeeper  in  my  absence  from 
home.  Sixth,  sufficient  money  would  need 
to  be  sent  to  meet  the  extra  expenses  incurred 
by  my  leaving  home. 

Yet,  as  I  laid  these  difficulties  before  the 
Lord,  I  received  the  definite  assurance  that  he 
would  open  the  way. 

My  son  was  brought  back  to  Toronto  on  a 
stretcher,  the  doctor  not  allowing  him  to  raise 


The  Story  of  One  Furlough  91 


his  head;  but  on  arrival  he  would  not  obey 
orders,  declaring  that  he  was  so  well  he  could 
not  and  would  not  remain  still.  Fearing  the 
consequences  of  his  disobeying  orders,  I  tele¬ 
phoned  for  the  doctor  to  come  at  once.  On 
his  arrival  he  gave  the  lad  a  thorough  exami¬ 
nation,  and  then  said :  “Well,  I  cannot  make 
him  out;  all  I  can  say  is,  let  him  do  as  he 
pleases.” 

Within  a  month  the  boy  was  going  back 
to  his  high  school,  apparently  quite  well. 
Some  months  later  he  applied  for  a  position 
as  forester  under  the  government.  He  had 
to  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  official  doc¬ 
tor.  My  son  told  him  of  his  recent  illness, 
and  of  what  the  doctor  had  said  concerning 
his  heart ;  but  this  physician  replied :  “In  spite 
of  all  you  have  told  me  I  can  discover  nothing 
whatever  the  matter  with  you,  and  will  there¬ 
fore  give  you  a  clear  bill  of  health.” 

As  for  myself,  I  did  not  go  to  the  hospital ; 
for  all  the  symptoms  that  had  seemed  to  re¬ 
quire  it  left  me,  and  I  became  perfectly  well. 
A  servant  was  sent  to  me  who  did  her  work 
sympathetically,  as  helping  me  to  do  the 
Lord's  work.  A  married  niece,  living  near, 
offered  to  stay  in  the  home  whenever  I  needed 
to  be  absent. 

And  so  there  remained  but  one  condition 
unfulfilled  —  the  money.  But  I  believed 


92 


God  Answers  Prayer 


this  would  come  as  I  went  forward;  and  it 
did.  Each  month  that  followed,  as  I  made 
up  my  accounts,  I  found  that  my  receipts  ex¬ 
ceeded  my  expenditures  sufficiently  to  enable 
me  to  spend  money  for  work  in  China,  and  to 
purchase  things  which  I  needed  for  China, 
including  an  organ.  All  these  accounts  were 
laid  before  our  beloved  Mission  Board  secre¬ 
tary,  who  approved  them. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  dared  not 
refuse  invitations  to  speak.  Yet,  so  weak 
was  my  faith,  for  months  I  never  left  home 
for  a  few  days  without  dreading  lest  some¬ 
thing  should  happen  to  the  children  during 
my  absence.  I  even  accepted  meetings  with 
the  proviso  that  if  the  children  needed  me  I 
must  fail  to  keep  my  appointment.  But  as 
the  days  and  weeks  and  months  passed,  and 
all  went  well,  I  learned  to  trust. 

“  ‘Be  still ;  be  strong  to-day/ 

But,  Lord,  to-morrow? 

What  of  to-morrow,  Lord? 

Shall  there  be  rest  from  toil, 

Be  truce  from  sorrow? 

‘Did  I  not  die  for  thee? 

Do  I  not  live  for  thee? 

Leave  me  to-morrow.’  ” 

In  giving  the  following  I  wish  to  make 
clear  that,  had  I  been  living  a  life  of  ease  or 
self-indulgence,  I  could  not  have  been  justi- 


The  Story  of  One  Furlough  93 

fied  in  expecting  God  to  undertake  for  me  in 
such  matters  as  are  here  recorded.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  I  had  stepped  out  into  a 
life  which  meant  trusting  for  everything. 

Before  leaving  China  for  Canada  my  hus¬ 
band  had  said  to  me :  “Do  not  stint  the  chil¬ 
dren  with  apples;  give  them  all  they  want.’’ 
But  when  I  began  housekeeping  I  found  this 
was  not  very  easy  to  do.  Apples  were  ex¬ 
pensive,  and  the  appetites  of  my  six  children 
for  them  seemed  insatiable.  However,  I 
began  by  buying  a  few  small  baskets;  and 
then  I  did  not  need  to  buy  more,  for  apples 
came  in  a  most  wonderful  way.  First  in 
baskets ;  then,  as  the  season  advanced,  in  bar¬ 
rels.  These  came  from  many  different 
sources;  and  in  some  cases  long  distances, 
express  paid  to  the  door.  On  one  occasion  a 
barrel  of  large,  hard  “Greenings”  came  just 
as  we  had  finished  the  last  barrel.  The  chil¬ 
dren  complained  that  they  were  too  hard  to 
eat,  and  begged  me  to  buy  them  some 
“Snows” —  very  expensive,  but  delicious 
apples  for  eating.  I  had  only  purchased  one 
small  basket  of  “Snows”  when  a  large  supply, 
almost  a  barrelful,  came  from  a  distant 
friend. 

I  feel  that  the  Lord  saw  that  I  had  given 
up  all  for  him,  so  just  showed  how  he  could 
provide,  thus  evidencing  his  love  and  care  for 


94 


God  Answers  Prayer 


my  dear  children.  We  had  set  up  house¬ 
keeping  at  the  end  of  the  fruit  season,  and  so 
I  had  not  been  able  to  do  canning  for  winter 
use.  That  winter,  again  and  again,  gifts  of 
canned  fruit  came,  sometimes  from  unknown 
sources.  Altogether,  seventy  jars  of  the 
finest  fruit  were  sent  to  us.  I  will  give  the 
details  of  just  one  of  these  gifts. 

Shortly  before  leaving  home  for  ten  days, 
the  servant  informed  me  that  the  canned 
fruit  was  finished.  Accordingly,  I  went  down 
and  ordered  enough  dried  fruit  to  last  till  I 
should  return.  On  reaching  home  I  was 
greeted  at  the  door  by  a  rush  from  the  chil¬ 
dren,  all  trying  at  once  to  tell  me  that  a 
lovely  valentine  had  just  arrived.  Leading 
me  back  to  the  kitchen,  they  showed  me  the 
table  covered  with  twenty  jars  of  the  most 
delicious  looking  fruit,  and  a  large  can  of 
maple  syrup.  On  a  card  accompanying  the 
gift  was  written:  “A  valentine  for  our  dear 
‘substitute  in  China,’  from  her  sisters  in 
Renfrew.” 

Early  in  the  winter  it  became  evident  that 
a  telephone  was  a  necessity,  with  my  numer¬ 
ous  calls  and  engagements.  I  hesitated  about 
going  into  this  expense,  not  being  quite  sure 
that  it  was  right  to  use  in  that  way  the  money 
given  me.  At  last,  I  prayed  that  the  Lord 


The  Story  of  One  Furlough  95 

would  show  me  his  will  in  the  matter  by  send¬ 
ing  me  half  the  amount  needed  for  the  tele¬ 
phone  within  a  certain  time,  if  it  was  right 
for  me  to  get  it.  Before  the  time  expired  the 
money  had  come ;  so  I  got  the  telephone. 

As  the  weather  became  cold  I  began  to 
suffer  on  the  long  drives  in  the  country  to 
appointments,  and  was  soon  longing  for  a 
fur  coat.  I  consulted  our  mission  secretary 
as  to  whether,  if  sufficient  money  were  given 
me,  I  could  put  it  into  a  fur  coat.  The  answer 
was  a  decided  “Yes.”  There  was  no  doubt 
that  the  coat  was  a  necessity  in  the  Lord’s 
work.  So  I  began  to  pray  the  Lord  to  send 
the  money  quickly,  for  the  cold  was  severe. 
In  less  than  two  weeks  I  received  the  money- 
needed,  and  of  course  got  the  coat. 

The  ladies  of  the  Winnipeg  Presbyterial 
had  arranged  a  series  of  meetings  for  me 
in  Winnipeg,  Brandon,  and  other  places  in 
that  vicinity,  about  ten  in  all.  The  collec¬ 
tions  from  the  meetings  were  to  defray  my 
traveling  expenses,  which  would  amount  to 
over  one  hundred  dollars.  On  my  way  by 
train  from  Toronto  to  Winnipeg  I  caught  a 
severe  cold,  which  settled  in  my  throat  and 
chest.  I  did  not  want  the  women  to  be  dis¬ 
appointed,  and  also  put  to  all  the  expense,  if 


96 


God  Answers  Prayer 


I  failed  them.  Just  before  reaching  Winni¬ 
peg  I  was  enabled  to  commit  myself  defi¬ 
nitely  into  the  Lord’s  hands,  for  strength  and 
voice  for  the  meetings.  The  days  that  fol¬ 
lowed  can  never  be  forgotten,  for  the  bodily 
weakness,  fever,  and  throat  trouble  were  re¬ 
moved  only  while  I  was  giving  my  addresses. 
In  each  case,  though  so  hoarse  before  and 
after  speaking  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  make 
myself  heard  above  a  whisper,  my  voice 
cleared  for  the  address. 

For  example :  while  at  Dr.  and  Mrs.  C.  W. 
Gordon’s  home  the  Sunday  I  was  to  speak  in 
Winnipeg,  I  was  advertised  to  speak  that 
night  in  Dr.  Gordon’s  church.  At  the  supper 
table  I  asked  Dr.  Gordon  if  he  would  be 
ready  to  speak  should  I  fail.  Just  before  my 
time  came  to  speak  I  slipped  up  on  to  the 
platform  behind  Dr.  Gordon,  who  was  pray¬ 
ing  ;  and  oh,  how  I  cried  to  the  Lord  for  help 
and  courage!  For  the  church  was  packed, 
and  even  the  Sunday-school  room  partitions 
were  opened  to  accommodate  the  crowd.  My 
throat  was  as  if  in  a  vise,  and  I  felt  weak  and 
ill.  But,  as  Dr.  Gordon  introduced  me,  I 
stepped  forward  possessed  by  a  feeling  of 
wonderful  calm  and  absolute  confidence.  It 
seemed  I  could  just  feel  One  like  unto  the 
Son  of  man  beside  me,  and  never  had  I  felt  so 
completely  and  only  a  channel.  For  more 


The  Story  of  One  Furlough  97 


than  an  hour  I  spoke  so  that  every  one  heard 
distinctly;  but  when  I  sat  down  my  throat 
tightened  as  before.  Dr.  Gordon  told  me 
later  that  he  had  a  man  sit  in  the  most  diffi¬ 
cult  place  in  which  to  hear,  and  that  he  had 
heard  every  word. 

So  it  was  till  the  end  of  my  appointments. 
On  the  homeward  journey  I  asked  the  Lord 
either  to  heal  my  throat,  or  to  provide  a  way 
for  me  to  get  a  needed  rest  from  speaking, 
for  I  had  many  appointments  awaiting  me  in 
Ontario.  A  few  days  after  reaching  home 
four  of  my  children  were  taken  down  with 
measles.  During  the  weeks  I  was  in  quaran¬ 
tine  with  them  my  throat  received  the  rest  it 
needed,  and  became  quite  restored. 

One  day  the  following  early  summer,  in 
looking  over  the  children’s  clothes,  I  found 
there  was  so  much  to  be  done  I  was  fairly 
overwhelmed.  I  saw  it  was  quite  impossible 
to  do  the  necessary  sewing  and  keep  my  ap¬ 
pointments  too.  The  question  that  weighed 
heavily  was,  “Should  I  cancel  the  meetings 
for  which  I  had  given  my  word?”  My  hus¬ 
band  urged  me  to  buy  ready-made  clothes, 
but  I  knew  how  expensive  they  would  be,  and 
could  not  bring  myself  to  do  so.  I  went  alone 
and  laid  my  burden  before  the  Lord,  praying 
that,  if  he  wanted  me  to  speak  further  for 


98  God  Answers  Prayer 

China,  he  would  show  his  will  by  sending  me 
some  gift  that  would  enable  me  to  get  ready¬ 
made  clothes  for  the  children. 

A  few  days  later  I  was  speaking  at  a  Pres- 
byterial  gathering  in  western  Ontario.  At 
the  close  of  the  evening  meeting  an  old  gen¬ 
tleman  put  into  my  hands  some  money.  I 
asked  him  what  he  wished  me  to  use  it  for, 
and  he  replied,  “For  your  children.  Use  it 
in  a  way  that  will  help  you  to  be  free  for 
God’s  work.”  My  heart  rose  in  thanksgiv¬ 
ing,  and  I  decided  to  accept  it  as  the 
token  I  had  asked  of  the  Lord.  On  my 
return  to  Toronto  I  spent  this  gift  in  buy¬ 
ing  ready-made  clothes  for  the  children,  to 
save  my  time  and  strength  for  the  Lord’s 
work. 

When  busy  in  my  home  one  day,  the 
thought  of  two  dear  friends  of  the  China 
Inland  Mission  kept  coming  constantly  to 
mind,  and  I  began  to  wonder  if  I  should  not 
send  them  some  money.  Looking  into  my 
purse,  I  found  I  had  only  fifty  cents  on  hand. 
I  put  the  matter  out  of  my  mind,  with  the 
thought  that  if  the  Lord  wanted  me  to  send 
them  anything  he  would  provide  a  way.  That 
afternoon’s  mail  brought  a  letter  from  a  dis¬ 
tant  place  in  Ontario  where,  a  year  before,  I 
had  visited  and  spoken  for  a  friend.  The 


The  Story  of  One  Furlough  99 

letter  was  from  the  treasurer  of  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Society  for  which  I  had  spoken. 
He  enclosed  five  dollars,  and  said  the  money 
was  to  have  been  given  me  at  the  time  I  spoke 
for  them,  but  had  been  overlooked. 

My  first  thought  was  to  return  it,  as  it 
would  be  dishonoring  my  friend  to  accept 
money  for  such  a  service ;  and  then  I  remem¬ 
bered  my  friends  for  whom  I  wanted  money, 
and  I  decided  to  send  the  five  dollars  to  them. 
My  husband,  returning  the  following  morn¬ 
ing,  handed  me  another  five  to  put  with  it, 
and  the  ten  dollars  was  sent  off. 

In  due  course  a  reply  came  from  my 
friends,  saying  that  the  very  morning  my 
letter  arrived  they  both  had  been  given  assur¬ 
ance  that  a  certain  sum  would  come,  for 
which  they  had  been  praying.  This  was  to 
meet  a  need  which  they  did  not  wish  to  bring 
before  their  Board.  My  letter  brought  the  ten 
dollars ;  and  another  letter  in  the  afternoon’s 
mail  contained  a  sum  which,  with  mine,  ex¬ 
actly  made  the  amount  they  had  been  asking 
the  Lord  for. 

“Say  not  my  soul,  ‘Can  God  relieve  my  care?’ 

Remember  that  Omnipotence  hath  servants  every¬ 
where  !” 

On  one  occasion,  when  about  to  leave  home 
on  a  ten  days’  trip  to  Montreal  and  other 


100  God  Answers  Prayer 

places,  word  came  that  the  children’s  Sunday- 
school  treat  was  to  take  place  during  my 
absence. 

Little  Mary  had  no  “best”  dress  for  the 
occasion.  I  had  planned  to  make  her  a  white 
woolen  dress,  but  now  there  was  no  time ;  and 
1  knew  I  could  not  make  it  while  away,  with 
so  many  meetings  ahead.  But,  that  very  day, 
a  lady  from  our  church  called  and  said  she 
had  wanted  for  a  long  time  to  help  me,  and 
asked  if  she  could  do  any  sewing  for  me. 
With  dim  eyes  and  a  grateful  heart  I  accepted 
hen  offer.  On  my  return,  Mary  told  me  of 
her  wearing  a  pretty  white  cloth  dress  for  the 
Sunday-school  treat. 

Once  more  we  planned  to  leave  Canada  for 
China,  and  a  serious  problem  faced  me.  Our 
eldest  son  could  be  left  to  face  the  world 
alone,  but  not  our  daughter  of  sixteen.  It 
was  necessary  that  a  suitable  guardian  be 
found  for  her.  I  called  on  three  different 
ones  whom  I  thought  would  feel  some  re¬ 
sponsibility  toward  the  missionary’s  daugh¬ 
ter,  but  all  three  declined  to  accept  the  respon¬ 
sibility.  I  then  saw  that  it  was  not  for  me  to 
try  to  open  doors,  but  for  this  also  I  must 
look  to  the  Lord.  I  prayed  that,  if  he  wished 
me  to  return  to  China,  he  would  send  me  one 
to  whom  I  could  commit  her. 


/ 

The  Story  of  One  Furlough  101 

A  short  time  passed;  then  a  lady  called, 
whose  life  had  been  devoted  to  the  training 
of  young  women.  Her  beautiful  Christian 
character  made  her  the  one  above  all  others 
in  whose  care  I  could  gladly  leave  my  daugh¬ 
ter.  This  lady  told  me  that  in  her  early  years 
she  had  hoped  to  give  her  life  for  service  in 
China,  but  the  way  had  been  closed.  She 
now  felt  that  the  Lord  had  laid  it  upon  her 
heart  to  offer  to  take  charge  of  my  child. 
Years  have  passed  since  then,  and  she  has  ful¬ 
filled  my  highest  expectations  of  her.  Rarely 
has  a  more  definite  answer  come  from  a  lov¬ 
ing  Father,  nor  one  that  brought  greater  re¬ 
lief  and  help;  for  this  offer,  coming  as  it  did 
in  answer  to  my  prayers,  seemed  to  be  unmis¬ 
takable  proof  that  the  Lord  would  keep  my 
child  as  I  gave  her  up. 

The  time  had  almost  arrived  for  beginning 
the  last  preparations  for  the  long  journey  to 
China,  when  one  day  Ruth  came  in  from  her 
play  with  her  heavy  coat  almost  in  shreds,  she 
having  in  some  way  torn  it  on  a  barbed  wire 
fence.  The  coat  was  the  only  heavy  one  she 
had,  and  I  had  planned  to  make  it  do  for  the 
ocean  voyage,  intending  to  get  a  new  one  in 
England.  I  tried  to  find  a  new  one  in  the 
stores,  but  the  season  was  past  and  I  could 
not;  and  I  had  no  time  to  make  another.  I 


102 


God  Answers  Prayer 


just  took  the  need  to  the  Lord  and  left  it 
there,  believing  that  in  some  way  he  would 
provide.  A  few  days  later  a  friend  tele¬ 
phoned  me  that  her  mother  had  recently 
returned  from  a  visit  to  Chicago,  and  wished 
me  to  come  over  to  see  a  parcel  she  had 
brought  for  me.  Oh,  the  relief  that  came 
when  I  found  that  the  parcel  contained, 
among  other  things,  a  handsome  red  cloth 
ulster,  which  fitted  Ruth  perfectly.  This 
fresh  evidence  of  the  Lord’s  overshadowing 
care  touched  me  deeply.  Those  who  have 
never  known  such  tokens  of  the  Lord’s  loving 
care  in  the  little  things  of  life  can  scarcely 
understand  the  blessedness  that  such  experi¬ 
ences  bring. 

“Whether  it  be  so  heavy  that  others  cannot  bear 
To  know  the  heavy  burden  they  cannot  come  and 
share ; 

Whether  it  be  so  tiny  that  others  cannot  see 
Why  it  should  be  a  burden,  and  seem  so  real  to  me, 
Either  and  both  I  lay  them  down  at  the  Master’s 
feet 

And  find  them  alone  with  Jesus  mysteriously 
sweet.’* 

As  I  attempt  to  recall  the  answers  to 
prayer  on  this  furlough,  so  many  come  to 
mind  it  is  impossible  to  record  them  all  — — 
help  in  keeping  my  appointments,  courage 
and  power  for  public  speaking,  physical 


The  Story  of  One  Furlough  103 

strength,  and  guidance  in  facing  many  diffi¬ 
cult  problems. 

It  was  at  this  time  I  formed  a  habit  of  get¬ 
ting  a  message  for  a  meeting  on  my  knees. 
It  often  seemed  to  me  very  wonderful  how,  as 
in  a  flash,  sometimes,  an  outline  for  a  talk  on 
China  would  come.  Never  having  kept  notes, 
nor  even  outlines  of  addresses,  I  have  fre¬ 
quently  been  placed  in  circumstances  when  I 
have  felt  utterly  cast  on  the  Lord.  And  I  can 
testify  that  he  never  failed  to  give  the  needed 
help,  and  the  realized  divine  power.  Yet  sad, 
sad  is  it  that  often  at  just  such  times,  no 
sooner  would  the  address  be  ended  than  the 
Satan- whispered  thought  would  come,  “I 
have  done  well  to-day.” 

Oh,  is  not  the  goodness  and  forbearance  of 
our  God  wonderful ;  wonderful  that  he  ever 
again  would  deign  to  give  help  when  asked 
for  it? 

A  short  time  since  I  asked  a  dear  friend 
whose  writings  have  reached  and  inspired 
multitudes  throughout  the  Christian  world: 
“How  did  you  do  it?” 

Softly,  with  deep  reverence  in  look  and 
tone,  she  replied :  “It  has  been  done  all  in  and 
through  prayer !” 

With  deepest  gratitude  and  praise  to  our 
ever  faithful  God,  I  too  can  testify  that  any 


104 


God  Answers  Prayer 


little  service  I  have  been  able  to  do  has  been 
done  by  his  grace  in  answer  to  prayer. 

“I  stood  amazed  and  whispered,  ‘Can  it  be 
That  he  hath  granted  all  the  boon  I  sought, 

How  wonderful  that  he  for  me  hath  wrought  1* 

****** 

Oh,  faithless  heart!  he  said  that  he  would  hear, 
And  proved  his  promise,  wherefore  didst  thou  fear? 
How  wonderful  if  he  should  fail  to  bless 
Expectant  prayer  with  good  success  1” 


VIII 


OUR  GOD  OF  THE  IMPOSSIBLE 


“Behold  I  am  the  Lord,  ...  is  there  any¬ 
thing  too  hard  for  ME?”  (Jer.  32:27.) 

“Ah,  Lord  God !  there  is  nothing  too  won¬ 
derful  for  thee”  (Jer.  32:17,  margin). 

HE  following  illustration  of  the  truth, 


X  “What  is  impossible  with  man  is  possible 
with  God,”  occurred  while  we  were  attending 
the  Keswick  Convention  in  England,  in  1910. 

One  evening  my  husband  returned  from 
an  evening  meeting,  which  I  had  not  at¬ 
tended,  and  told  me  of  a  woman  who  had 
come  to  him  in  great  distress.  She  had  been 
an  earnest  Christian  worker,  but  love  for 
light,  trashy  fiction  had  so  grown  upon  her 
as  to  work  havoc  in  her  Christian  life.  She 
had  come  to  Keswick  three  years  in  succes¬ 
sion,  hoping  to  get  victory,  but  had  failed. 

My  whole  soul  went  out  to  the  poor  wo¬ 
man;  I  longed  to  help  her.  But  Mr.  Goforth 
did  not  know  her  name,  and  the  tent  had  been 
so  dark  he  could  not  recognize  her  again; 
besides,  there  were  about  four  thousand  peo¬ 
ple  attending  the  convention.  That  night  I 
lay  awake  asking  the  Lord,  if  he  knew  I  could 


106 


God  Answers  Prayer 


help  her,  to  bring  us  together,  for  I,  too,  had 
at  one  time  been  almost  wrecked  on  the  same 
rock. 

Three  evenings  later  the  tent  was  so 
crowded  that  I  found  difficulty  in  getting  a 
seat.  Just  as  the  meeting  was  about  to  begin, 
I  noticed  a  woman  change  her  seat  twice,  and 
then  rise  a  third  time  and  come  to  where  I 
was,  asking  me  to  make  room  for  her.  I 
crowded  the  others  in  the  seat  and  made  room 
for  her  —  I  fear  not  too  graciously.  While 
Mr.  F.  B.  Meyer  was  speaking  I  noticed  she 
was  in  great  distress,  her  tears  falling  fast. 
I  laid  my  hand  on  hers,  and  she  grasped  it 
convulsively.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  I 
said,  “Can  I  help  you?” 

“Oh,  no,”  she  replied,  “there  is  no  hope  for 
me;  it  is  those  cursed  novels  that  have  been 
my  ruin.” 

I  looked  at  her  in  amazement,  and  almost 
gasped :  “Are  you  the  one  who  spoke  to  Mr, 
Goforth  Saturday  night?” 

“Yes;  but  who  are  you?” 

Scarcely  able  to  speak  for  emotion,  I  told 
her,  and  also  of  my  prayer.  For  the  next 
few  moments  we  could  only  weep  together. 
Then  the  Lord  used  me  to  lead  the  poor 
crushed  and  broken  soul  back  to  himself.  As 
we  parted,  a  few  days  later,  her  face  was 
beaming  with  the  joy  of  the  Lord. 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  107 


While  addressing  a  gathering  of  Chris¬ 
tians  in  Glasgow  I  was  giving  a  certain  inci¬ 
dent,  the  point  of  which  depended  upon  a 
verse  of  a  certain  hymn.  When  I  came  to 
quote  the  verse,  it  had  utterly  slipped  my 
memory.  In  some  confusion  I  turned  to  the 
leader,  hoping  that  he  could  help  me  out ;  but 
he  said  he  had  no  idea  what  the  hymn  was. 
Turning  again  to  the  people,  I  had  to  ac¬ 
knowledge  that  my  memory  had  failed  me, 
and,  feeling  embarrassed,  I  closed  my  mes¬ 
sage  somewhat  hurriedly. 

Sitting  down,  I  lifted  my  heart  in  a  cry  to 
the  Lord  to  lead  me  to  the  verse  I  wanted,  if 
it  was  in  the  hymn-book  used  there.  I  took 
up  a  hymn-book  and  opened  it,  and  the  very 
first  lines  my  eyes  fell  on  were  those  of  the 
verse  I  wanted,  though  it  was  the  last  verse 
of  a  long  hymn.  Rising  again,  I  told  the 
people  of  my  prayer  and  the  answer,  and 
gave  them  the  verse.  The  solemn  stillness 
which  prevailed  indicated  that  a  deep  impres¬ 
sion  had  been  made.  Some  two  years  after, 
a  newly  arrived  missionary  in  China  told  me 
he  had  been  present  at  that  meeting,  and  how 
this  little  incident  had  been  a  great  blessing 
to  him. 

“They  cried  unto  thee,  and  were  deliv¬ 
ered  :  they  trusted  in  thee,  and  were  not  con¬ 
founded”  (Psa.  22:  5). 


108 


God  Answers  Prayer 


Before  leaving  Canada  we  had  written  to 
the  China  Inland  School  at  Chefoo,  China, 
hoping  to  get  our  children  admitted  there; 
but,  shortly  before  we  left  England  for 
China,  word  reached  us  that  both  the  boys’ 
and  girls’  schools  were  overflowing,  with 
long  lists  of  waiting  applicants.  This  was  a 
great  blow  to  me,  for  I  had  been  looking  for¬ 
ward  to  engaging  once  more  in  the  aggres¬ 
sive  outstation  work. 

But  the  children  could  not  be  left,  and 
were  too  old  to  be  taken  away  from  their 
studies.  It  seemed  necessary,  therefore,  that 
a  good  Christian  governess  should  be  found, 
who  would  teach  the  children  and  take  charge 
of  the  home  in  my  absence.  All  the  way 
across  the  Siberian  route  this  matter  was  be¬ 
fore  us.  Earnestly  did  I  pray  that  the  Lord 
would  direct  the  right  one  to  us ;  for  I  knew 
that  to  get  a  young  woman,  who  could  fill  the 
position  we  wanted  her  for,  would  be  very 
difficult  in  China. 

We  had  planned  to  go  direct  to  our  station, 
but  illness  forced  us  to  break  the  journey  at 
Peitaiho,  where  we  met  a  young  lady,  the 
daughter  of  a  missionary.  Many  difficulties 
appeared  in  the  way  of  her  coming  on  with 
us,  but  one  by  one  these  were  removed;  and 
when  we  continued  our  journey  this  young 
woman  was  one  of  our  party. 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  109 

Time  proved  her  to  be  truly  God-given. 
Not  only  was  she  all  and  more  than  I  could 
have  hoped  for,  but  the  Lord  answered  my 
prayers  that  her  young  life  might  be  conse¬ 
crated  to  the  Lord’s  service  in  China.  She 
later  went  through  her  training  in  England 
as  a  nurse,  and  is  now  in  China  as  a  mission¬ 
ary  of  the  China  Inland  Mission. 

The  summer  holidays  at  Peitaiho  were 
drawing  to  a  close.  Heavy  rains  had  fallen, 
making  the  roads  to  the  station,  six  miles 
distant,  almost  impassable.  Word  had  come 
that  our  two  children,  Ruth  and  Wallace, 
must  leave  by  the  Monday  morning  train  in 
order  to  reach  the  steamer  at  Tientsin,  which 
was  to  take  them  to  Chefoo,  where  they  were 
attending  the  China  Inland  Mission  schools. 
All  day  Saturday  and  Sunday  torrents  of 
rain  continued  to  fall,  with  a  fierce  wind 
from  the  north. 

I  rose  before  daybreak  Monday  morning, 
to  find  the  rain  still  pouring  down  in  torrents. 
I  roused  the  servant,  and  sent  him  off  to 
make  sure  about  the  chair,  cart,  and  donkeys. 
A  little  later  he  returned  to  say  that  the  chair 
had  been  blown  over,  and  the  chair-bearers 
had  refused  to  come.  The  carters  also  re¬ 
fused,  saying  the  roads  were  impassable ;  and 
even  the  donkey  boys  said  they  would  not  go. 


1 1 0  God  Answers  Prayer 

I  was  truly  at  “wit’s  end  corner.’'  I  went 
alone,  and  did  not  take  time  even  to  kneel 
down,  but  just  lifted  up  my  heart  to  my 
Father  to  stop  the  rain  and  open  a  way  for 
the  children  to  get  to  the  station.  I  felt  a 
sudden,  strong  confidence  that  the  Lord 
would  help,  and  going  out  again  I  ordered 
the  servant  to  run  fast  to  the  village  near  by 
and  get  fresh  donkeys.  He  was  unwilling, 
saying  it  was  useless,  no  one  would  venture ; 
but  I  said:  “Go  at  once,  I  know  they  will 
come.” 

While  he  was  gone  the  children  had  their 
breakfast,  boxes  were  closed  and  taken  out, 
and  the  children  put  on  their  wraps.  Then 
the  rain  stopped!  Just  then  the  servant  re¬ 
turned  with  several  donkeys.  Within  five 
minutes,  children  and  baggage  were  on  don¬ 
keys,  and  started  for  the  station.  A  few 
hours  later  one  of  the  donkey  boys  returned 
with  a  hastily  written  note  from  Ruth,  say¬ 
ing  they  had  reached  the  station  without  any 
mishap,  and  quite  dry ;  for  it  had  not  rained 
on  the  way  over,  but  had  started  to  pour 
again  just  after  they  had  got  on  the  train. 
The  rain  continued  for  days  after. 

At  the  close  of  our  four  months  of  meet¬ 
ings  in  Great  Britain,  in  1910, 1  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  send  a  gift  of  five  dollars  to  five 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  1 1 1 

different  objects  in  Britain,  to  show  in  a 
practical  way  our  sympathy  with  the  workers 
in  these  various  branches  of  the  Lord’s 
work. 

My  husband  was  in  the  midst  of  his  ac¬ 
counts  when  I  asked  him  to  give  me  five 
pounds  for  this  purpose.  He  told  me  it  was 
impossible,  as  we  had  barely  enough  for  the 
journey  to  China.  As  I  left  him  I  wondered 
why  I  seemed  to  have  these  gifts  so  definitely 
laid  upon  me  to  send  away,  when  there  was 
no  money.  Reasoning  that  if  the  thing  were 
really  of  the  Lord  he  could  himself  give  me 
what  he  wished  me  to  send,  I  put  the  matter 
from  my  mind. 

That  evening’s  mail  brought  a  letter  from 
a  stranger  living  some  distance  away,  judg¬ 
ing  from  the  postmark;  for  the  letter  had 
no  address,  and  was  not  signed.  The  letter 
said : 

“I  do  not  know  you,  nor  have  I  met  you, 
but  the  Lord  seems  to  have  laid  it  on  my 
heart  to  send  you  this  five-pound  note  as  a 
farewell  gift,  to  do  what  you  think  best 
with.” 

It  was  with  a  joyful  heart  I  sent  off  the 
gifts  to  the  five  Christian  workers  in  Britain. 
Had  the  giver  said  it  was  “for  work  in 
China,”  as  was  usually  the  case,  I  could  not 
have  used  it  for  any  other  purpose* 


112 


God  Answers  Prayer 


How  to  get  the  sewing  done  for  my  family 
and  yet  meet  the  pressing  calls  made  upon 
me  as  the  wife  of  a  pioneer  missionary,  for 
almost  thirty  years  has  been  perhaps  the  most 
difficult  and  constant  problem  of  my  mission¬ 
ary  life.  In  connection  with  the  solving  of 
this  problem,  I  have  seen  some  of  the  most 
precious  evidences  of  God’s  willingness  to 
undertake  in  the  daily  details  of  life. 

The  following  story  must  be  given  in  de¬ 
tail  to  be  really  understood,  as  one  of  the 
striking  instances  of  how  Qod,  in  his  own 
wonderful  way,  can  work  out  the  seemingly 
impossible. 

Returning  home  to  our  station  from  an 
unusually  strenuous  autumn’s  touring,  I 
planned  as  usual  to  give  the  month  of  De¬ 
cember  to  the  children’s  sewing,  so  as  to 
leave  January  largely  free  for  a  Bible- 
women’s  training  class.  But  my  health 
broke  down,  and  I  could  make  scarcely  any 
headway  with  the  thirty-five  or  forty  gar¬ 
ments  which  had  to  be  made  or  fixed  over, 
before  the  children  returned  to  their  school 
in  Chefoo.  By  the  eighteenth  of  December 
we  decided  to  cancel  the  class  on  account  of 
my  ill-health;  and  to  all  the  women,  except 
one  whom  I  entirely  forgot,  I  sent  word  not 
to  come. 

As  the  days  passed,  the  burden  of  the 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  1 1 3 

almost  untouched  sewing  became  very  great. 
At  last  I  cried  to  the  Lord  to  undertake  for 
me.  And  how  wonderfully  he  did !  On  De¬ 
cember  twenty-eighth,  when  I  was  conduct¬ 
ing  the  Chinese  women’s  prayer-meeting,  I 
noticed  in  the  audience  Mrs.  Lu,  the  very 
woman  to  whom  I  had  forgotten  to  send 
word.  She  had  come  a  long  distance,  with 
her  little  child,  over  rough  mountainous 
roads,  so  I  felt  very  sorry  for  my  thought¬ 
lessness.  Mrs.  Lu  accompanied  me  home, 
and  I  gave  her  money  for  a  barrow  on  which 
to  return  the  next  day.  I  then  sat  down  to 
the  sewing  machine.  The  woman  stood  be¬ 
side  me  for  a  little,  and  then  said: 

“You  are  looking  very  tired,  Mrs.  Go¬ 
forth;  let  me  run  the  machine  for  you.” 

“You!”  I  exclaimed,  astonished,  “why, 
you  don’t  know  how.” 

“Yes,  I  do,”  she  replied. 

She  was  so  insistent  that  at  last,  in  fear 
and  trembling,  I  ventured  to  let  her  try  — 
for  I  had  only  one  needle.  It  took  but  a  few 
moments  to  convince  me  she  was  a  real  ex¬ 
pert  at  the  machine.  When  I  urged  her  to 
stay  and  help  me,  she  replied  that,  since  the 
class  was  given  up,  she  would  return  home  on 
the  morrow. 

That  night  I  was  puzzled.  Why  should 
the  Lord  lead  this  woman  to  me  —  the  only 


114 


God  Answers  Prayer 


one,  so  far  as  we  knew,  who  could  do  the 
machine  work  —  and  then  permit  her  to 
leave?  I  could  only  lay  the  whole  matter 
before  the  Lord,  and  trust  him  to  undertake. 
And  again  he  answered.  That  night  a  fierce 
storm  came  on,  lasting  several  days  and 
making  the  roads  quite  impassable.  Mrs.  Lu, 
finding  herself  storm-tied,  gladly  gave  all  her 
time  to  me.  The  roads  remained  impassable 
for  a  whole  month,  during  which  time  I  did 
not  once  need  to  sit  down  at  the  machine. 

While  in  Tientsin  with  my  children  during 
the  revolution  in  1912,  I  had  occasion  to  go 
into  the  Chinese  city  with  my  servant.  We 
visited  three  stores.  On  our  way  home  by 
the  tramway  I  discovered  I  had  lost  a  five- 
dollar  bill  and  one  of  my  gloves.  I  had  fool¬ 
ishly  put  the  bill  inside  the  glove.  Ashamed 
to  let  the  Chinese  servant  know  of  my  care¬ 
lessness,  I  sent  him  home  when  we  reached 
the  end  of  the  tram  line.  As  soon  as  he  was 
out  of  sight  I  took  the  tram  back  to  the  city. 
On  the  way  I  confessed  to  the  Lord  my  care¬ 
lessness,  and  asked  him  to  keep  the  glove  and 
money,  and  lead  me  to  where  they  were.  I 
retraced  my  steps  back  to  two  of  the  stores 
where  we  had  been.  As  I  entered  the  second, 
which  was  a  shoe  store,  a  number  of  men 
were  in  the  shop ;  but  there,  right  in  sight  of 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  1 1 5 

all,  on  the  floor  lay  my  glove,  and  I  knew  of 
course  with  the  five  dollars  inside.  It  was 
with  a  heart  full  of  gratitude  to  my  loving 
Heavenly  Father,  and  an  enlarged  vision  of 
his  love,  that  I  picked  up  the  glove  and  re¬ 
turned  home  that  day. 

On  one  occasion  when  on  furlough  with 
several  little  children,  and  my  husband  in 
China,  I  had  no  settled  home.  When  the 
time  came  to  do  the  sewing  for  the  long  jour¬ 
ney  back  to  China,  I  had  simply  no  way  to 
get  it  done.  I  just  had  to  look  to  the  Lord; 
and,  as  so  often  before,  he  was  again  faith¬ 
ful,  and  opened  the  way.  When  shopping 
down  town,  one  day,  I  met  a  minister’s  wife 
from  a  distant  country  charge,  who  said :  “I 
want  you  to  come  with  all  your  children,  and 
get  your  sewing  done  with  me.  A  number  of 
the  ladies  of  our  congregation  sew  well,  and 
will  be  delighted  to  help  you.” 

I  gratefully  accepted  her  invitation,  and 
while  staying  with  her  a  sewing-bee  was  held 
in  the  church.  In  one  week  the  sewing  was 
finished,  which  would  have  taken  me  many 
weeks  of  hard,  constant  labor  to  accomplish 
alone. 

The  winter  of  our  return  from  China, 
after  the  Boxer  tragedies,  I  felt  keenly  the 


116 


God  Answers  Prayer 


need  of  a  good  sewing  machine,  as  I  could 
not  possibly  do  the  children’s  sewing  by  hand 
and  still  get  time  for  meetings.  One  day,  as 
my  husband  was  leaving  on  a  deputation 
tour,  I  asked  him  for  money  for  a  machine. 
He  assured  me  it  was  impossible;  that  we 
had  only  sufficient  for  bare  necessities.  I 
knew  well  he  would  gladly  give  me  money  for 
the  machine  if  he  had  it.  So  I  laid  my  need 
before  my  Father,  confident  that  he  knew  it 
was  a  real  need,  and  that  according  to  his 
promise  he  could  and  would  supply  it. 

I  was  so  sure  that  somehow  the  money 
would  come,  that  I  went  down  town  espe¬ 
cially  to  choose  a  suitable  machine.  I  found 
it  would  cost  thirty-six  dollars.  A  few  days 
later  I  received  a  letter  from  a  band  of  ladies 
in  Mount  Forest,  Ontario,  enclosing  twenty- 
three  dollars  and  some  odd  cents,  and  saying : 
“ Please  accept  the  enclosed  to  buy  something 
you  have  lost  as  our  substitute  in  China.,, 
Only  a  day  or  two  later  another  letter  came, 
from  quite  another  part  of  Ontario,  enclosing 
twelve  dollars  and  some  cents.  The  two 
amounts  came  to  exactly  the  sum  I  needed  to 
purchase  the  machine. 

The  second  letter  stated  that  the  money 
was  sent  to  help  me  buy  a  sewing  machine. 
It  has  always  been  a  puzzle  to  me  how  they 
came  to  send  the  money  in  that  way,  for  I 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  1 1 7 

had  not  spoken  to  any  one  but  my  husband 
about  wanting  a  machine.  When  Mr.  Go¬ 
forth  returned  I  was  able  to  show  him 
what  the  Lord  could  give  me,  though  he 
could  not. 

I  had  been  holding  a  class  for  women  at 
an  out-station,  staying  in  the  home  of  the 
elder,  Dr.  Fan.  The  day  before  I  was  to 
return  home,  Mrs.  Fan  asked  me  to  go  with 
her  to  visit  a  very  sick  boy  whom  the  mis¬ 
sionary  doctor  had  sent  home  from  the  boys' 
school,  Wei  Hwei,  because  of  his  having 
tuberculosis  of  the  lungs.  Mrs.  Fan  told  me 
the  mother  was  in  great  distress,  and  begged 
me  to  come  and  pray  with  her.  I  found  the 
lad  in  a  truly  pitiable  condition.  His  mouth 
was  swollen,  his  face  a  ghastly  hue,  and 
every  moment  a  cough  racked  his  frame.  He 
seemed  to  me  quite  beyond  hope,  and  looked 
as  if  he  could  not  live  long. 

On  our  way  home  to  Mrs.  Fan’s,  the  mes¬ 
sage  of  James  5:  14,  15,  kept  coming  per¬ 
sistently  to  me,  as  if  spoken  by  a  voice :  “Is 
any  sick  among  you?  let  him  call  for  the 
elders  of  the  church ;  and  let  them  pray  over 
him, . . .  and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the 
sick,  and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up.” 

I  simply  could  not  get  away  from  those 
words.  On  reaching  Dr.  Fan’s  home,  I  sent 


1 1 8  God  Answers  Prayer 

for  him,  and  asked  if  he  and  the  other  elders 
would  be  willing  to  pray  with  me  over  the 
lad.  He  consented,  though  at  first  he  seemed 
rather  dubious.  There  were  quite  a  number 
of  Christians  gathered  around  as  we  placed 
the  boy  in  our  midst.  All  knelt  down,  and  I 
read  the  words  from  James.  I  told  them 
plainly  that  I  could  not  say  that  it  was  indeed 
the  Lord’s  will  to  heal  the  boy;  all  that  was 
clear  to  me  was  that  we  must  obey  as  far  as 
we  had  light,  and  leave  the  rest  in  God’s 
hands  for  life  or  death.  Several  prayed,  and 
we  then  dispersed. 

Early  the  following  morning  I  left  for 
home.  Circumstances  prevented  my  return 
to  that  place,  and  in  time  we  moved  to  an¬ 
other  field.  More  than  two  years  later,  while 
visiting  Wei  Hwei,  I  met  Mrs.  Fan,  who  told 
me  that  the  lad  had  completely  recovered  and 
was  then  working  with  his  father.  Still  a 
year  later  I  met  Dr.  Fan,  and  upon  inquiring 
about  the  lad,  the  doctor  told  me  he  was  per¬ 
fectly  well,  and  was  in  business  in  Wei  Hwei 
City. 

The  power  of  intercession  is  shown  in  the 
following  two  incidents : 

In  the  winter  of  1905  a  call  came  for  my 
husband  to  hold  special  meetings  in  Man¬ 
churia.  On  reaching  Liao  Yang  for  these 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  1 1 9 

meetings,  one  of  the  missionaries  showed  him 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Moffat,  of  Korea,  which 
said :  “I  have  a  thousand  Christians  here  who 
have  promised  to  pray  for  Mr.  Goforth,  and 
I  know  their  prayers  will  prevail  with  God/’ 
Can  we  doubt  that  their  prayers  had  some¬ 
thing  to  do  with  the  marvelous  revival  move¬ 
ment  which  followed  ? 

When  in  England,  in  1909,  my  husband 
was  the  guest  of  a  lady  in  London  who  was 
noted  for  her  power  in  intercession.  He  was 
telling  her  of  the  great  revival  movements  he 
had  been  through,  which  took  place  in  differ¬ 
ent  provinces  of  China;  and  she  asked  him  to 
look  at  her  diary,  in  which  were  notes  of 
times  when  she  had  been  led  out  in  special 
intercession  for  Mr.  Goforth.  These  dates 
exactly  corresponded  to  the  times  of  greatest 
revival  power. 

A  few  months  after  we  returned  to  China 
from  a  furlough,  I  invited  a  certain  mission¬ 
ary  and  his  wife  and  children  to  pay  us  a 
visit.  Peculiarly  touching  circumstances  had 
led  me  to  give  this  invitation.  Both  husband 
and  wife  were  in  ill  health,  and  greatly 
needed  a  change.  They  resided  in  a  far  in¬ 
land  station,  quite  cut  off  from  other  mis¬ 
sionaries.  They  were  not  connected  with  any 
Society,  and  were  looking  only  to  the  Lord 


120 


God  Answers  Prayer 


for  their  support.  Just  as  these  friends  had 
started  toward  us,  on  their  five-days’  journey, 
smallpox  broke  out  at  our  station,  and  one  of 
the  missionaries  died.  A  telegram  was  sent, 
hoping  to  catch  them  before  they  left,  but  it 
did  not  reach  them  until  they  were  a  short 
distance  from  our  station.  Then  the  whole 
family  had  to  turn  around,  and  once  more 
take  the  long,  trying  journey,  homeward.  As 
the  weather  was  very  cold  at  the  time,  one 
could  imagine  what  a  terrible  trial  to  faith 
the  whole  experience  meant  to  them.  I  felt 
so  deeply  for  them  that  I  planned  to  send 
sufficient  to  cover  at  least  the  expense  of  the 
journey.  But,  on  getting  out  of  quarantine, 
I  found  I  could  not  draw  on  our  treasurer 
for  the  fifty  dollars  needed,  as  Mr.  Goforth 
was  not  at  home.  However,  the  Lord  had 
seen  the  need  long  before  I  felt  it,  and  had 
the  exact  amount  ready.  Three  days  after  I 
got  out  of  quarantine  I  received  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Horace  Goven,  of  the  Faith  Mission, 
Glasgow,  enclosing  a  draft  for  five  pounds 
which,  at  the  rate  of  exchange  at  that  time, 
came  to  fifty  dollars  Mexican.  The  gift 
came  from  the  workers  of  the  mission,  and 
he  stated  that  they  wished  me  to  accept  it  as  a 
personal  gift.  Needless  to  say,  the  draft  was 
sent  off  that  same  day  to  the  needy  friends  in 
the  far-off  station. 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  121 

On  one  occasion,  while  we  were  tempor¬ 
arily  stationed  at  Wei  Hwei,  Honan,  I  was 
called  to  nurse  a  fellow  missionary  who  had 
contracted  black  smallpox.  This  missionary 
died ;  and  it  was  while  shut  away  from  every 
one  during  the  time  of  quarantine  that  I  had 
the  following  experience : 

I  awoke  suddenly  one  night  feeling  greatly 
troubled  for  one  in  Canada.  So  strong  was 
the  impression  that  this  friend  needed  my 
prayers,  that  I  felt  compelled  to  rise  and 
spend  a  long  time  wrestling  with  God  on  this 
one’s  behalf;  then  peace  came,  and  I  again 
slept. 

As  soon  as  I  was  out  of  quarantine  I  wrote 
to  my  friend  and  told  of  this  experience,  giv¬ 
ing  the  date.  In  time  the  answer  came,  which 
said  that  —  though  no  date  could  be  given,  as 
no  note  had  been  made  of  it  —  as  far  as 
could  be  judged,  it  was  about  the  same  time 
that  I  had  had  the  burden  of  prayer  that  my 
friend  was  passing  through  a  time  of  such 
temptation  as  seemed  almost  overwhelming. 
But  the  letter  said :  “I  was  brought  through 
victoriously ;  I  know  that  it  was  your  prayers 
that  helped  me.” 

The  following  incident  may  seem  trifling 
to  some ;  but  to  me  no  answer  in  my  life  ever 
brought  more  intense  relief.  For  this  reason 


122  God  Answers  Prayer 

I  have  reserved  it,  as  the  final  testimony  of 
the  original  prayer  record. 

My  husband  had  gone  to  hold  revival  meet¬ 
ings  in  a  distant  province,  and  while  he  was 
away  I  went  with  my  Bible-woman  to  a  cer¬ 
tain  out-station  at  the  urgent  request  of  the 
Christians,  to  preach  at  a  four-days’  “theatri¬ 
cal,”  which  brought  great  crowds.  The  four 
days  there  were  enough  to  wear  out  the 
strongest;  for  many  hours  daily  we  had  to 
face  unruly  crowds  coming  and  going;  and 
at  the  end  of  our  stay  I  turned  my  face  home¬ 
ward  utterly  worn  out.  My  one  thought  was 
to  get  to  Wei  Hwei,  our  next  station,  for  a 
few  days’  rest  with  my  youngest  children, 
who  were  attending  school  there.  A  sight  of 
them,  I  knew,  would  recover  my  energies 
better  than  anything  else. 

But  in  getting  home  I  in  some  way  lost  the 
key  of  the  money-drawer.  It  was  Friday, 
and  the  train  for  Wei  Hwei  left  on  Satur¬ 
day  at  ten  o’clock.  Different  persons  came 
for  money,  but  I  had  to  put  them  off  with 
some  excuse.  There  was  too  much  money  in 
the  drawer  for  me  to  leave  with  the  key  lying 
around  somewhere;  besides,  I  myself  could 
not  go  without  money. 

As  soon  as  I  had  my  supper  I  started 
searching  everywhere.  Drawers,  pigeon¬ 
holes,  shelves,  were  all  searched  in  vain. 


Our  God  of  the  Impossible  123 

After  hunting  for  two  hours,  until  I  was  too 
exhausted  to  hunt  any  more,  I  suddenly 
thought,  “I  have  never  prayed  about  it.” 
Stopping  still  just  where  I  stood  by  the 
dining-table,  I  lifted  my  heart  to  the  Lord. 
“O  Lord,  you  know  how  much  I  need  a  rest; 
you  know  how  much  I  long  to  see  the  chil¬ 
dren  ;  pity  me,  and  lead  me  to  the  key.” 

Then,  without  wasting  a  step,  I  walked 
through  the  dining-room,  hall,  and  women’s 
guest  room  into  Mr.  Goforth’s  study,  to  the 
book-case  (which  covers  one  side  of  the 
room),  opened  the  door,  slipped  two  books 
aside,  and  there  was  the  key.  So  near  did 
the  Lord  seem  at  that  moment  that  I  could 
almost  feel  his  bodily  presence.  It  was  not 
that  I  remembered  putting  the  key  there,  but 
he  led  me  there. 

Yes,  I  know  God  answers  prayer. 


IX 


TO  HIS  PRAISE! 


“They  shall  abundantly  utter  the  memory 
of  thy  great  goodness.” 

HIS  chapter  is  written  more  than  seven 


1  years  later  than  the  foregoing,  in  fur¬ 
ther  testimony  and  praise. 

Returning  to  Canada  at  the  time  of  the 
Great  War,  we  came  face  to  face  with  a 
serious  financial  crisis.  Only  two  ways 
seemed  open  to  us.  One  was  to  lay  our 
affairs  frankly  before  the  Board,  showing 
that  our  salary  was  quite  insufficient,  with 
war  conditions  and  prices,  to  meet  our  re¬ 
quirements.  The  other  course  was  to  just 
go  forward,  get  a  suitable  home  and  what¬ 
ever  we  required,  and  trust  our  Father  to 
supply  what  was  needed  above  our  income. 
We  decided  on  the  latter  course. 

A  dear  daughter  felt  indignant  that  we 
should  have  a  salary  insufficient  for  our 
needs ;  but  we  assured  her  that  to  trust  God 
for  what  was  lacking  was  not  begging.  The 
day  came  when  this  child  and  myself  took 
possession  of  our  new  home.  As  we  entered 


To  His  Praise 


125 


the  dining-room  we  found  a  large  mail  from 
China  on  the  table. 

One  letter  was  forwarded  from  the  lady 
in  Australia  whose  gifts,  in  the  past,  seemed 
always  to  have  met  some  felt  need.  Her 
letter  enclosed  fifty  pounds,  with  the  ex¬ 
pressed  wish  that  thirty  pounds  should  be 
used  for  work  in  China,  but  twenty  pounds 
was  to  be  used  to  meet  some  personal  need.  I 
handed  the  letter  to  my  daughter,  saying: 
“Shall  we  not  believe  that  God  will  under¬ 
take  for  us  ?  It  seems  to  me  as  if  our  Father 
were  beside  us  saying,  ‘My  child,  take  this 
hundred  dollars  as  an  earnest  of  what  I  am 
going  to  do  for  you.’  ” 

Tears  stood  in  her  eyes  as  my  daughter 
gave  the  letter  back,  saying:  “Mother,  we 
don’t  trust  God  half  enough!1’ 

Were  I  to  attempt  to  write  the  history  of 
the  months  that  followed,  a  long  chapter 
would  be  required;  but  my  testimony  along 
this  line  is  surely  sufficient. 

It  was  on  this  same  furlough  that  I  came 
to  have  an  enlarged  vision  of  my  Heavenly 
Father’s  willingness  to  undertake  in  what 
some  might  term  the  minor  details  of  every¬ 
day  life.  Missionaries,  especially  we  mis¬ 
sionary  women,  know  only  too  well  how  we 
are  criticized  in  the  matter  of  dress,  when  in 


126 


God  Answers  Prayer 


the  homeland  and  when  traveling.  I  have 
had,  through  the  years,  not  only  many  amus¬ 
ing  but  trying  experiences  in  this  connec¬ 
tion,  and  I  resolved  to  make  the  question  of 
dress  a  definite  matter  of  prayer.  And  I 
rejoice  to  testify  that  the  result  of  this  de¬ 
cision  became  a  constant  source  of  wonder 
and  praise.  Yes,  I  found  the  Lord  could 
guide  me  even  in  trimming  my  hat  to  his 
glory !  That  is,  so  that  I  could  stand  up  be¬ 
fore  an  audience  and  not  bring  discredit  to 
my  Master.  Praise  his  name! 

“There  is  nothing  too  great  for  his  power, 
And  nothing  too  small  for  his  love!” 

At  the  time  of  the  Great  War  a  son  had 
gone  to  England  with  the  first  Canadian  con¬ 
tingent.  When  this  news  reached  us  in 
China,  I  began  to  pray  definitely  that  the 
Lord  would  use  my  son's  gifts  in  the  best 
way  for  his  country’s  good,  but  would  keep 
him  back  from  the  trenches  and  from  actual 
warfare.  My  boy  did  not  know  of  this 
prayer. 

Some  weeks  after  reaching  England  he 
was  looking  forward  to  leaving  for  the 
trenches  in  France,  when  orders  came  that 
he  was  needed  in  the  Orderly  Room,  and  his 
unit  left  without  him.  Months  later  a  call 
came  for  volunteers,  to  fill  the  great  gaps 


To  His  Praise 


127 


made  at  the  time  of  the  first  use  of  gas.  My 
boy  resigned  his  position,  and  joined  the 
company  of  volunteers  to  be  sent  to  France. 
Just  before  they  were  to  leave  he  was  again 
sent  for  from  Headquarters,  and  told  he  was 
to  go  to  the  Canadian  Base  in  France  as 
adjutant.  His  duties  in  this  capacity  kept 
him  at  the  Forwarding  Base.  A  year  later 
he  again  planned  to  resign,  in  order  to  get  to 
the  trenches.  He  had  begun  making  arrange¬ 
ments  for  this  step,  when  he  had  a  fall  from 
his  horse,  which  caused  him  to  be  invalided 
home  to  Canada,  where  he  was  kept  till  the 
close  of  the  war. 

It  would  indeed  be  difficult  to  persuade  his 
mother  that  all  this  happened  by  chance ;  for 
one  day,  when  in  great  distress,  expecting 
any  day  a  cable  to  say  he  had  left  for  the 
trenches,  I  received  a  most  clear  assurance 
from  the  Lord  that  he  had  the  boy  in  his 
keeping. 

After  our  return  to  China,  when  in  great 
trouble,  I  prayed  the  Lord  to  grant  me  a 
clear  sign  of  his  favor  by  giving  me  a  certain 
petition,  which  affected  a  child  in  the  home¬ 
land.  The  request  was  a  complicated  one, 
including  several  definite  details.  A  little 
more  than  a  month  later,  a  letter  reached  me 
from  the  one  for  whom  I  had  asked  the 


128  God  Answers  Prayer 

Lord’s  favor.  She  wrote  joyously,  telling 
that  she  had  received  just  what  I  had  asked 
for,  and  in  every  detail  as  I  had  prayed. 

When  my  husband  resigned  the  regular 
field  work  of  Changte,  Honan,  it  became 
necessary  for  us  to  find  a  home  elsewhere. 
The  only  suitable  place,  meeting  all  our  re¬ 
quirements,  was  on  the  hills  at  Kikungshan, 
South  Honan.  On  going  there  to  get  a  site 
for  our  home,  though  we  looked  for  more 
than  a  week,  we  could  find  no  place.  As  we 
started  down  the  hill,  one  morning  soon  after 
midnight,  I  was  feeling  our  failure  very 
keenly,  for  we  had  given  up  our  old  home. 
When  my  husband  saw  how  bad  I  felt,  as 
he  told  me  later,  he  began  to  cry  earnestly  to 
the  Lord  to  give  us  a  site.  And  before  we 
reached  the  station  the  assurance  had  come 
that  we  would  get  a  place.  A  friend  on  the 
train,  traveling  third  class,  saw  us  getting  on 
the  second  class,  and  came  in  for  a  few  words 
before  getting  off  the  train.  When  he  heard 
we  had  failed  to  get  a  site,  he  said : 

“I  know  of  a  beautiful  site  which  our  Mis¬ 
sion  is  reserving  for  a  future  missionary. 
I’ll  ask  them  to  give  it  to  you.” 

A  few  days  later  the  treasurer  of  this  Mis¬ 
sion  wrote  us  that  they  had  unanimously  and 
gladly  voted  to  give  us  the  site. 


To  His  Praise 


129 


I  am  now  writing  these  closing  words  in 
our  God-given  home,  built  on  this  beautiful 
site,  one  of  the  most  lovely  spots  to  be  found 
in  China.  So  from  this  quiet  mountain 
retreat,  a  monument  of  what  God  can  give  in 
answer  to  prayer,  this  little  book  of  Prayer 
Testimonies  is  sent  forth. 

As  the  past  has  been  reviewed,  and  God's 
wonderful  faithfulness  recalled,  there  has 
come  a  great  sense  of  regret  that  I  have  not 
trusted  God  more,  and  asked  more  of  him, 
both  for  my  family  and  the  Chinese.  Yes,  it 
is  truly  wonderful!  But  the  wonder  is  not 
that  God  can  answer  prayer,  but  that  he  does , 
when  we  so  imperfectly  meet  the  conditions 
clearly  laid  down  in  his  Word. 

In  recent  years  I  have  often  tested  myself 
by  these  conditions,  when  weeks,  and  perhaps 
months,  have  passed  without  some  answer  to 
prayer,  and  there  has  come  a  conscious  spir¬ 
itual  sagging.  As  the  discerning  soul  can 
plainly  see,  all  the  conditions  mentioned  ill 
the  list  below  may  be  included  in  the  one 
word  “Abide.” 

Conditions  of  Prevailing  Prayer 

1.  Contrite  humility  before  God  and  forsaking  of 

sin. — 2  Chron.  7 : 14. 

2.  Seeking  God  with  the  whole  heart. — Jer.  29: 

12,  13. 

3.  Faith  in  God. — Mark  11:23,  24. 

5.  Obedience. — 1  John  3:22. 


130 


God  Answers  Prayer 


6.  Dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit. — Rom.  8 :  26. 

7.  Importunity. — Mark  7:24-30;  Luke  11:5-10. 

8.  Must  ask  in  accordance  with  God’s  will. — 1  John 

5:i4. 

9.  In  Christ’s  Name. — John  14:13,  14,  and  many 

other  passages. 

IO.  Must  be  willing  to  make  amends  for  wrongs  to 
others. — Matt.  5  :  23,  24. 

Causes  of  Failure  in  Prayer 

1.  Sin  in  the  heart  and  life. — Psa.  66:18;  Isa.  59: 

1,  2. 

2.  Persistent  refusal  to  obey  God. — Prov.  1:24-28; 

Zech.  7:11,  13. 

3.  Formalism  and  hypocrisy. — Isa.  1 :  2-15. 

4.  Unwillingness  to  forgive  others. — Mark  11:25, 

26. 

5.  Wrong  motives. — James  4:2,  3. 

6.  Despising  God’s  law. — Amos  2 :  4. 

7.  Lack  of  love  and  mercy. — Prov.  21 : 13. 


X 


VICTORY  FOUND 

AT  THE  close  of  this  little  volume  it 
seems  fitting  to  recount  again  a  wonder¬ 
ful  personal  experience,  narrated  in  The  Sun¬ 
day  School  Times  of  December  7,  1918. 

I  do  not  remember  the  time  when  I  did  not 
have  in  some  degree  a  love  for  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  my  Saviour.  When  not  quite 
twelve  years  of  age,  at  a  revival  meeting,  I 
publicly  accepted  and  confessed  Christ  as  my 
Lord  and  Master. 

From  that  time  there  grew  up  in  my  heart 
a  deep  yearning  to  know  Christ  in  a  more 
real  way,  for  he  seemed  so  unreal,  so  far 
away  and  visionary.  One  night  when  still 
quite  young  I  remember  going  out  under  the 
trees  in  my  parents’  garden  and,  looking  up 
into  the  starlit  heavens,  I  longed  with  in¬ 
tense  longing  to  feel  Christ  near  me.  As  I 
knelt  down  there  on  the  grass,  alone  with 
God,  Job’s  cry  became  mine,  “Oh,  that  I 
knew  where  I  might  find  him !”  Could  I  have 
borne  it  had  I  known  then  that  almost  forty 
years  would  pass  before  that  yearning  would 
be  satisfied? 

131 


132  God  Answers  Prayer 

With  the  longing  to  know  Christ,  literally 
to  “find”  him,  came  a  passionate  desire  to 
serve  him.  But,  oh,  what  a  terrible  nature  I 
had!  Passionate,  proud,  self-willed,  indeed 
just  full  was  I  of  those  things  that  I  knew 
were  unlike  Christ. 

The  following  years  of  half-hearted  con¬ 
flict  with  sinful  self  must  be  passed  over  till 
about  the  fifth  year  of  our  missionary  work 
in  China.  I  grieve  to  say  that  the  new  life 
in  a  foreign  land  with  its  trying  climate,  pro¬ 
voking  servants,  and  altogether  irritating 
conditions,  seemed  to  have  developed  rather 
than  subdued  my  natural  disposition. 

One  day  (I  can  never  forget  it),  as  I  sat 
inside  the  house  by  a  paper  window  at  dusk, 
two  Chinese  Christian  women  sat  down  on 
the  other  side.  They  began  talking  about  me, 
and  (wrongly,  no  doubt)  I  listened.  One 
said,  “Yes,  she  is  a  hard  worker,  a  zealous 
preacher,  and  —  yes,  she  nearly  loves  us ;  but, 
oh,  what  a  temper  she  has!  If  she  would 
only  live  more  as  she  preaches!” 

Then  followed  a  full  and  true  delineation 
of  my  life  and  character.  So  true,  indeed, 
was  it,  as  to  crush  out  all  sense  of  annoyance 
and  leave  me  humbled  to  the  dust.  I  saw 
then  how  useless,  how  worse  than  useless, 
was  it  for  me  to  come  to  China  to  preach 
Christ  and  not  live  Christ.  But  how  could  I 


Victory  Found  1 33 

live  Christ?  I  knew  some  (including  my 
dear  husband)  who  had  a  peace  and  a  power, 
• — yes,  and  a  something  I  could  not  define, 
that  I  had  not;  and  often  I  longed  to  know 
the  secret. 

Was  it  possible,  with  such  a  nature  as 
mine,  ever  to  become  patient  and  gentle  ? 

Was  it  possible  that  I  could  ever  really 
stop  worrying? 

Could  I,  in  a  word,  ever  hope  to  be  able  to 
live  Christ  as  well  as  preach  him  ? 

I  knew  I  loved  Christ ;  and  again  and  again 
I  had  proved  my  willingness  to  give  up  all 
for  his  sake.  But  I  knew,  too,  that  one  hot 
flash  of  temper  with  the  Chinese,  or  with  the 
children  before  the  Chinese,  would  largely 
undo  weeks,  perhaps  months,  of  self-sacrific¬ 
ing  service. 

The  years  that  followed  led  often  through 
the  furnace.  The  Lord  knew  that  nothing 
but  fire  could  destroy  the  dross  and  subdue 
my  stubborn  will.  Those  years  may  be 
summed  up  in  one  line:  “Fighting  (not  find¬ 
ing),  following,  keeping,  struggling  ”  Yes, 
and  failing!  Sometimes  in  the  depths  of 
despair  over  these  failures;  then  going  on 
determined  to  do  my  best, —  and  what  a  poor 
best  it  was! 

In  the  year  1905,  and  later,  as  I  witnessed 
the  wonderful  way  the  Lord  was  leading  my 


134 


God  Answers  Prayer 


husband,  and  saw  the  Holy  Spirit’s  power  in 
his  life  and  message,  I  came  to  seek  very 
definitely  for  the  fulness  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
It  was  a  time  of  deep  heart-searching.  The 
heinousness  of  sin  was  revealed  as  never 
before.  Many,  many  things  had  to  be  set 
right  toward  man  and  God.  I  learned  then 
what  “paying  the  price”  meant.  Those  were 
times  of  wonderful  mountain-top  experi¬ 
ences,  and  I  came  to  honor  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  seek  his  power  for  the  overcoming  of  sin 
in  a  new  way.  But  Christ  still  remained,  as 
before,  distant,  afar  off,  and  I  longed  increas¬ 
ingly  to  know  —  to  find  him.  Although 
I  had  much  more  power  over  besetting  sins, 
yet  there  were  times  of  great  darkness  and 
defeat. 

It  was  during  one  of  these  latter  times 
that  we  were  forced  to  return  to  Canada,  in 
June  of  1916.  My  husband’s  health  pre¬ 
vented  him  from  public  speaking,  and  it 
seemed  that  this  duty  for  us  both  was  to  fall 
on  me.  But  I  dreaded  facing  the  Home 
Church  without  some  spiritual  uplift, —  a 
fresh  vision  for  myself.  The  Lord  saw  this 
heart-hunger,  and  in  his  own  glorious  way 
he  fulfilled  literally  the  promise,  “He  satis- 
fieth  the  longing  soul,  and  filleth  the  hungry 
soul  with  goodness”  (Psa.  107:9,  A.  V.). 

A  spiritual  conference  was  to  be  held  the 


Victory  Found 


135 


latter  part  of  June  at  Niagara-on-the-Lake, 
Ontario,  and  to  this  I  was  led.  One  day  I 
went  to  the  meeting  rather  against  my  in¬ 
clination,  for  it  was  so  lovely  under  the  trees 
by  the  beautiful  lake.  The  speaker  was  a 
stranger  to  me,  but  from  almost  the  first  his 
message  gripped  me.  Victory  over  Sin! 
Why,  this  was  what  I  had  fought  for,  had 
hungered  for,  all  my  life!  Was  it  possible? 

The  speaker  went  on  to  describe  very  sim¬ 
ply  an  ordinary  Christian  life  experience  — 
sometimes  on  the  mountain-top,  with  visions 
of  God ;  then  again  would  come  the  sagging, 
and  dimming  of  vision,  coldness,  discourage¬ 
ment,  and  perhaps  definite  disobedience  and 
a  time  of  down-grade  experience.  Then  per¬ 
haps  a  sorrow,  or  even  some  special  mercy, 
would  bring  the  wanderer  back  to  his  Lord. 

The  speaker  asked  for  all  those  who  felt 
this  to  be  a  picture  of  their  experience  to  raise 
the  hand.  I  was  sitting  in  the  front  seat,  and 
shame  only  kept  me  from  raising  my  hand 
at  once.  But  I  did  so  want  to  get  all  God  had 
for  me,  and  I  determined  to  be  true;  and 
after  a  struggle  I  raised  my  hand.  Wonder¬ 
ing  if  others  were  like  myself,  I  ventured  to 
glance  back  and  saw  many  hands  were 
raised,  though  the  audience  was  composed 
almost  entirely  of  Christian  workers,  minis¬ 
ters,  and  missionaries. 


136 


God  Answers  Prayer 


The  leader  then  went  on  to  say  that  life 
which  he  had  described  was  not  the  life  God 
planned  or  wished  for  His  children.  He  de¬ 
scribed  the  higher  life  of  peace,  rest  in  the 
Lord,  of  power  and  freedom  from  struggle, 
worry,  care.  As  I  listened  I  could  scarcely 
believe  it  could  be  true,  yet  my  whole  soul 
was  moved  so  that  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  I  could  control  my  emotion.  I  saw 
then,  though  dimly,  that  I  was  nearing  the 
goal  for  which  I  had  been  aiming  all  my  life. 

Early  the  next  morning,  soon  after  day¬ 
break,  I  went  over  on  my  knees  carefully  and 
prayerfully  all  the  passages  on  the  Victorious 
Life  that  were  given  in  a  little  yellow  leaflet 
that  the  speaker  had  distributed.1  What  a 
comfort  and  strength  it  was  to  see  how  clear 
God’s  Word  was  that  victory,  not  defeat,  was 
his  will  for  his  children,  and  to  see  what  won¬ 
derful  provision  he  had  made !  Later,  during 
the  days  that  followed,  clearer  light  came.  I 
did  what  I  was  asked  to  do  —  I  quietly  but 
definitely  accepted  Christ  as  my  Saviour 
from  the  power  of  sin  as  I  had  so  long  before 
accepted  him  as  my  Saviour  from  the  penalty 
of  sin.  And  on  this  I  rested. 

1  This  leaflet,  giving  a  carefully  selected  list  of  Scripture 
references  on  the  Victorious  Life,  may  be  had  from  The 
Sunday  School  Times  Company,  1031  Walnut  Street,  Phila¬ 
delphia,  Pa.,  at  50  cents  per  100  copies;  or  15  cents  for  25 
copies ;  postpaid. 


Victory  Found 


137 


I  left  Niagara,  realizing,  however,  there 
was  still  something  I  had  not  got.  I  felt 
much  as  the  blind  man  must  have  felt  when 
he  said,  “I  see  men  as  trees,  walking” 
(A.  V.).  I  had  begun  to  see  light,  but  dimly. 

The  day  after  reaching  home  I  picked  up 
a  little  booklet,  “The  Life  That  Wins,”1 
which  I  had  not  read  before,  and  going  to  my 
son’s  bedside  I  told  him  it  was  the  personal 
testimony  of  one  whom  God  had  used  to 
bring  great  blessing  into  my  life.  I  then  read 
it  aloud  till  I  came  to  the  words,  “At  last  I 
realized  that  Jesus  Christ  was  actually  and 
literally  within  me.”  I  stopped  amazed.  The 
sun  seemed  suddenly  to  come  from  under  a 
cloud  and  flood  my  whole  soul  with  light. 
How  blind  I’d  been!  I  saw  at  last  the  secret 
of  victory  —  it  was  simply  Jesus  Christ  him¬ 
self  —  his  own  life  lived  out  in  the  believer. 
But  the  thought  of  victory  was  for  the  mo¬ 
ment  lost  sight  of  in  the  inexpressible  joy  of 
realizing  Christ’s  Indwelling  Presence! 
Like  a  tired,  worn-out  wanderer  finding  home 
at  last  I  just  rested  in  him.  Rested  in  his 
love  —  in  himself.  And,  oh,  the  peace  and 
joy  that  came  flooding  my  life !  A  restfulness 
and  quietness  of  spirit  I  never  thought  could 


1  "The  Life  that  Wins"  may  be  obtained  from  The  Sun¬ 
day  School  Times  Company  at  2  cents  each  ;  or  20  cents  a 
dozen  copies,  or  $1.50  per  hundred,  postpaid. 


138 


God  Answers  Prayer 


be  mine  took  possession  of  me  so  naturally. 
Literally  a  new  life  began  for  me,  or  rather  in 
me.  It  was  just  “the  Life  that  is  Christ/’ 

The  first  step  I  took  in  this  new  life  was  to 
get  standing  on  God’s  own  Word,  and  not 
merely  on  man’s  teaching  or  even  on  a  per¬ 
sonal  experience.  And  as  I  studied  especially 
the  truth  of  Christ’s  indwelling,  victory  over 
sin,  and  God’s  bountiful  provision,  the  Word 
was  fairly  illumined  with  new  light. 

The  years  that  have  passed  have  been  years 
of  blessed  fellowship  with  Christ  and  of 
joy  in  his  service.  A  friend  asked  me  not 
long  ago  if  I  could  give  in  a  sentence  the 
after  result  in  my  life  of  what  I  said  had 
come  to  me  in  1916,  and  I  replied,  “Yes,  it 
can  be  all  summed  up  in  one  word, 
“Resting.” 

Some  have  asked,  “But  have  you  never 
sinned?”  Yes,  I  grieve  to  say  I  have.  Sin 
is  the  one  thing  I  abhor  —  for  it  is  the  one 
thing  that  can,  if  unrepented  of,  separate  us, 
not  from  Christ,  but  from  the  consciousness 
of  his  presence.  But  I  have  learned  that 
there  is  instantaneous  forgiveness  and  restor¬ 
ation  to  be  had  always.  That  there  need  be 
no  times  of  despair. 

One  of  the  blessed  results  of  this  life  is 
not  only  the  consciousness  of  Christ’s  pres¬ 
ence,  but  the  reality  of  his  presence  as  mani- 


Victory  Found 


139 


fested  in  definite  results  when,  in  the  daily 
details  of  life,  matters  are  left  with  him  and 
he  has  undertaken. 

My  own  thought  of  him  is  beautifully  ex¬ 
pressed  in  Spurgeon’s  words: 

“What  the  hand  is  to  the  lute, 

What  the  breath  is  to  the  flute. 

What’s  the  mother  to  the  child. 

What  the  guide  in  pathless  wild. 

What  is  oil  to  troubled  wave. 

What  is  ransom  to  a  slave. 

What  is  flower  to  the  bee, 

That  is  Jesus  Christ  to  me.’* 

The  special  Bible-study  which  I  made  at 
that  time  was  embodied  in  a  leaflet.  Proving 
helpful  to  others,  it  is  added  below.1 

God’s  Presence 

The  secret  of  Victory  is  simply  Christ  himself  in 
the  heart  of  the  believer.  This  truth,  of  Christ’s 
indwelling,  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  mystery. 

Romans  16:25. 

Ephesians  3 :  9  with  Colossians  1 :  26,  27. 
Ephesians  5:30,  32  (R.  V.). 

Colossians  4 : 3. 

Christ  himself  taught  this  truth. 

John  14:20,  23;  15:1-7;  17:21-23. 

Matthew  28 : 20. 

Revelation  3:20.  (See  also  Mark  16:20). 

It  was  a  vital  reality  to  the  Apostle  Paul. 

Romans  8 : 10.  Galatians  3 : 27. 

1  Corinthians  6:15.  Galatians  4:19. 

1  Corinthians  12:27  (R.  V.).  Ephesians  3:  17. 

2  Corinthians  5  : 17.  Philippians  1 :  21 

2  Corinthians  13 :  5.  1  Thessalonians  5 : 10. 

Galatians  2 :  20.  Hebrews  3 :  6. 

^his  leaflet  may  be  obtained  from  the  Christian  Life 
Literature  Fund,  600  Perry  Building,  Philadelphia,  at  15 
cts.  a  dozen,  60  cts.  a  hundred,  or  a  cts.  each. 


140 


God  Answers  Prayer 


The  words  “in  Christ,”  which  recur  in  many  other 
passages,  will  have  a  new  literalness  when  read  in 
the  light  of  the  above. 

The  Apostle  John  had  a  like  conception  of  Christ’s 
indwelling  presence. 

I  John  2 :  28  to  3 :  6,  24. 

I  John  4:4,  12,  13,  16. 

I  John  5:  20. 


God’s  Purpose 

As  Victory  is  the  result  of  Christ’s  Life  lived  out 
in  the  believer,  it  is  important  that  we  see  clearly  that 
Victory,  and  not  defeat,  is  God’s  Purpose  for  his 
Children.  The  Scriptures  are  very  decided  upon  this 
truth. 


Luke  1 :  74,  75- 
Romans  5 : 2. 

^Romans,  chaps.  6  and  8. 

1  Corinthians  15  :  57. 

2  Corinthians  2 :  14. 

2  Corinthians  10:  5. 
Ephesians  1:3,  4. 
Colossians  4: 12. 


2  Thessalonians  3  :  3  (R.  V.). 
2  Timothy  2:19. 

Titus  2 :  12. 

Hebrews  7 : 25. 

1  Peter  1 :  15 

2  Peter  3 :  14. 

1  John  2:  1. 

1  John  3:6,  9. 


I  Thessalonians  5  :  23. 

And  many  other  passages. 


That  Christ  came  as  the  Saviour  from  the  power 
as  well  as  the  penalty  of  sin  we  see  in  Matthew  1 : 21, 
with  John  8:34,  36,  and  Titus  2:14. 


God’s  Provision 

God  knew  the  frailty  of  man,  that  his  heart  was 
“desperately  wicked,”  that  even  his  righteousness  was 
“as  filthy  rags,”  that  man’s  only  hope  for  victory 
over  sin  must  come  from  the  God-ward  side.  He, 
therefore,  made  kingly  provision  so  rich,  so  sufficient, 
so  exceeding  abundant,  that  as  we  study  it,  we  feel 
we  have  tapped  a  mine  of  wealth,  too  deep  to  fathom. 
Just  a  few  suggestions  of  its  riches: 

God’s  greatest  provision  is  the  gift  of  a  part  of 
His  Own  Being  in  the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  following  are  but  some  of  the  many  things  the 
Holy  Spirit  does  for  us,  as  recorded  in  the  Word: 

•The  7th  chapter  of  Romans  should  be  read  in  the  light 
of  the  6th  and  8th  chapters. 


Victory  Found 


HI 


He  begets  us  into  the  family  of  God. — John  3:6. 

He  seals  or  marks  us  as  God’s. — Eph.  1 :  13. 

He  dwells  in  us. — 1  Cor.  3 : 16. 

He  unites  us  to  Christ. — 1  Cor.  12:13,  27. 

He  changes  us  into  the  likeness  of  Christ. — 2  Cor. 


He  helps  in  prayer. — Rom.  8 :  26. 

He  comforts. — -John  14:  16. 

He  guides. — Rom.  8:14. 

He  strengthens  with  power. — Eph.  3 :  16. 

He  is  the  source  of  power  and  fruitfulness. — John 
7:38,  39- 

Some  of  the  victorious  results  in  our  life,  as  Christ 
has  His  way  in  us,  are  shown  in : 

Romans  8 :  32,  37.  Philippians  4 :  7,  13,  19. 

Romans  15:  13.  Colossians  1:  11. 

2  Corinthians  9:  8,  11.  1  Peter  1 :  5. 


2  Corinthians  2 :  14. 
Ephesians  1 :  19. 
Ephesians  3 : 16,  20. 


2  Timothy  3  :  17. 


To  the  seeker  for  further  Scripture  help  the  writer 
would  suggest  a  plan  that  has  proved  a  great  bless¬ 
ing  to  herself. 

Read  the  Psalms  through,  making  careful  record 
of  all  the  statements  of  what  the  Lord  was  to  the 
writers  of  the  Psalms.  The  list  will  surprise  you. 
Then  on  your  knees  go  over  them  one  by  one,  with 
the  prayer  that  Christ  may  be  to  you  what  he  was  to 
David  and  the  others. 

Take  a  Cruden’s,  or  better  still  a  Young’s,  concord¬ 
ance  and  look  up  the  texts  under  such  headings  as 
Love,  Fulness,  Power,  Riches,  Grace,  etc.,  grouping 
them  into  usable  Bible  studies.  As  a  sample,  taking 
this  last  word,  “grace”;  the  more  one  studies  it  the 
more  wonderful  does  it  become.  Here  are  some  of 
these  headings: 

Grace  for  grace. — John  1 : 16. 

Sufficient  grace. — 2  Cor.  12 :  9. 

More  Grace. — James  4:6. 

All  Grace. — 2  Cor.  9 :  8. 

Abundant  grace. — Rom.  5  :  17. 

Exceeding  abundant  grace. — 1  Tim.  1 : 14. 

Exceeding  riches  of  His  grace. — Eph.  2:17. 


142 


God  Answers  Prayer 


But  let  us  remember  that  to  simply  know  of  riches 
will  never  materially  benefit  us.  We  must  make  them 
our  own.  All  fulness  dwells  in  Christ.  It  is  only 
as  we  “apprehend”  (which  means  take  hold  or  take 
in)  Christ  through  the  Holy  Spirit  can  it  be  possible 
for  these  spiritual  riches  to  become  ours.  The  slogan 
of  this  glorious  life  in  Christ  is  just  “Let  go  and  let 
God.” 


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